Week of January 12

On January 5, 2026, The New York Times launched a Brain Health Challenge focused on how everyday habits support brain health. We’ve adapted a few of those quiz questions for this week’s MyAlliance Brain Booster—give them a try, then head to our answers page for the answers and a bit of extra insight.

 

1. When does your brain stop changing?

• in utero
• in your 20s
• in your 60s
• never

2. Which activity has been shown to give your brain an immediate boost?

• watching TV
• eating fish
• exercising
• doing a crossword puzzle

3. True or false: supplements have definitively been proven to improve brain health.

4. What is the optimal number of daily steps to help protect against dementia?

• 1,000 to 3,000
• 3,001 to 5,000
• 5,001 to 7,000
• 7,001 to 9,000

5. True or false: a diminished sense of smell can be an early sign of dementia.

Answers

1. never: Brain volume is thought to peak during childhood and starts to shrink in a person's 30s, but the brain never loses its ability to develop new connections between neurons. This process, called neuroplasticity, is central to learning new things and forming new memories.
2. exercising: Research has found that people can perform better on cognitive tests right after a bout of physical activity. Eating fish and doing crossword puzzles could be beneficial over the long term, but not immediately. Consistently watching four or more hours of TV a day is associated with reduced brain volume.
3. false: There’s been a lot of research into whether certain supplements, like omega-3s or B vitamins, can boost cognition or reduce the risk of dementia. Some studies show a benefit, but many others do not. As a result, neurologists don’t typically recommend supplements for brain health, unless the patient has a known deficiency
4. 5,001 to 7000: A study published in 2025 showed that people at risk for dementia who walked roughly 5,001 to 7,000 steps a day had slower cognitive decline than those who were less physically active. Taking 3,001 to 5,000 daily steps provided a smaller benefit, but there was no additional advantage from taking over 7,500.
5. true: Regions of the brain that control smell, called the olfactory system, are among the first to be affected in Alzheimer’s disease — in some cases years before other symptoms emerge.

Source: New York Times article (1/5/2026): How Much Do You Know About Brain Health? 

(note: this is a gift link to the New York Times article; no subscription is necessary to read it)

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Week of January 5

Alzheimer’s disease is known by many names around the world. 

How many names and languages can you recognize?

 

La enfermedad de Alzheimer

• La maladie d’Alzheimer
• アルツハイマー病
• Της νόσου του Alzheimer
• מחלת אלצהיימר
• Demenz
• Doença de Alzheimer
• Choroba Alzheimera

 

Answers

• La enfermedad de Alzheimer→ Spanish
• La maladie d’Alzheimer→ French
• アルツハイマー病→ Japanese
• Της νόσου του Alzheimer→ Greek
• מחלת אלצהיימר→ Hebrew
• Demenz→ German
• Doença de Alzheimer→ Portuguese
• Choroba Alzheimera→ Polish

Join us for this week’s Weekly Webinar on Thursday, 1/8, to learn about 120 Years of Alzheimer’s: A Global Look at Progress, Care, and Hope. We'll explore how understanding of dementia and care have evolved around the world—and what gives us hope today.

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Week of December 8

Guess the next three letters in this series: G T N T L

 

Hint: You're looking right at them, and they're looking right back at you!

 

Answer: 

I T S

The given series is the first letters of the first five words: G T N T L - Guess the next three letters
So the next three letters are the first letters of the next three words: I T S - in this series

 

Here's looking at a happy holiday season and all the best to you in 2026. The Brain Booster will return in the January 5, 2026 issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health. 

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Week of December 1

Rainbow Riddle

These six words are connected somehow — which word is missing?

origami
reptilian
?
nuclei
gliding
echo

Choose from: albatross · approved · bingo · furtive · pedaled · zebra

Hint: Think about the colors in a rainbow and let that guide your eye to boost your brain.

 

Answer: 

Approved

Why:

• The first letters of the words form ORANGE.
• The last letters form INDIGO.
• The missing word must start with A and end with D, so approved fits to include these two colors in the rainbow array.

Bonus Brain Booster: Think of other words that start with A and end with D that could fit into this riddle! Or try it out with the other five hues: red, yellow, green, blue, violet. 

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Week of November 17

Below you will find a list eight-letter words, with only their endings remaining.

 

Can you find the words?

-----rue

-----jar

-----dil

-----any

-----pox

-----gth

-----elf

-----oia

-----ige

-----hog

-----too

-----dix

-----fin

-----upt

 

Hints: Almost all of the words start with a consonant. There are two correct answers for one of the sets of letters. 

 

Answers:

CONSTrue

NIGHTjar

DAFFOdil

MAHOGany or EPIPHany

SMALLpox

STRENgth

YOURSelf

PARANoia

PRESTige

HEDGEhog

COCKAtoo

APPENdix

PARRAfin

BANKRupt

 

P.S. - Was NIGHTJAR a new word for you, too? If so, the Brain Booster is working double time this week! A NIGHTJAR is a nocturnal bird that hunts insects at night, with excellent camouflage and a soft, trilling call; it is rarely seen during the day because it blends into leaves and tree bark. Hm, sounds almost as cool as a JAYHAWK!

 

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Week of November 10

Which is larger — the number of seconds in a week, or the number of minutes in a year?

Start with your instinctual thinking. Without counting at all, which will you choose? Then, use your critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills to decide which one is your answer. After that, use pencil, paper, a calculator or any other mathematical tool you have to figure it out. 

Hint: If you’re a Broadway fan, think of the song “Seasons of Love” from Rent.
How do you measure, measure a year?

 

Answer:

There are more seconds in a week than minutes in a year.

Why (numerical calculation)

• Seconds in a week = 7 days×24 hr×60 min×60 s=604,800.
• Minutes in a (common) year = 365 days×24 hr×60 min=525,600 (there's the Rent reference!).

So 604,800 is larger than 525,600.

A non-mathematical way to arrive at the correct answer: 

Imagine a year as a grand Broadway show — long and sweeping, 365 acts of sunrises and sunsets.
And a week as just one little scene, brief but briskly paced.

Now, consider what we’re counting:

• Minutes are long, graceful steps — like the steady rhythm of a waltz.
• Seconds are quick beats — tap shoes on fire!

So even though a year lasts far longer than a week, each second is such a tiny unit that an ordinary week fills up with an enormous number of them — far more than the year can gather of those slower, roomier minutes.

In other words: the week wins not because it’s long, but because its measuring stick is so small.

Additional considerations: if you use a leap year (366 days) the minutes are 366×24×60=527,040 — still less than 604,800. And using the average year (365.25 days) gives about 525,960 minutes — still less than the week’s seconds.

Speaking of how to measure a year, join us on Thursday, November 13 for the Weekly Webinar with a year-end report of our research from KU ADRC Director Russell Swerdlow, MD.

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Week of November 3

Fall weather can be famous for its dramatic temperature tangos, especially around the KU ADRC campus! 

One day it's warm, the next day it's cold, then back again like the sky is trying on outfits.

Warm up your neurons with this classic word ladder.

Change COLD to WARM one letter at a time.
Each step must be a real English word.

COLD

WARM

 

Answer:

One possible path:
COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM

Can you find a different route?

Brain Health Tip: Stay Active as Temperatures Swing

When the weather flips between cozy and frosty, our routines can wobble too.
Give your brain a boost by moving your body daily, even indoors.

A few simple ideas:
• March in place during commercials
• Stretch while your coffee brews
• Put on a favorite song and dance for 2 minutes
• Walk the hallway like it is a runway and strike a pose

Movement sparks blood flow, lifts mood, and keeps memory circuits humming.
Tiny steps count. Every wiggle is a win.

Stay warm, stay curious, and treat your brain with kindness.

Week of October 27

Halloween Brain Booster: Beware the Vampire Numbers!

Some numbers have a bite! A vampire number is a number with an even number of digits that can be factored into two smaller numbers (called fangs) using exactly the same digits as the original.

For example:
1260 = 21 × 60 — rearrange the digits and you get the original number!

Can you find the fangs of this one?
1395 = ? × ?

(Hint: each fang has two digits… and the answer multiplies out perfectly!)

Bonus challenge: Try making your own vampire number with 4 or 6 digits. Sink your teeth into the puzzle and keep your mind sharp this spooky season!

Answer:

1395 = 15 × 93 (the fangs)

The Explanation (No garlic required):

A vampire number must meet three conditions:

1. It has an even number of digits.
   → 1395 has 4 digits 
2. It can be factored into two smaller numbers (the fangs) that each have half as many digits.
   → Each fang has 2 digits 
3. When you take all the digits from both fangs and rearrange them, you can form the original number.
   →
   • 1395’s digits are 1, 3, 9, 5
   • 15 and 93 use 1, 5, 9, 3 — the same digits, just in a different order! 

Finally, when you multiply the fangs:
15 × 93 = 1395 — exactly the vampire number we started with!

If you're wondering why the answer isn't 31 x 95 - it's because the result of that is 2,945. And it's also not 53 x 91 = 4,823. Only 15 x 93 = 1395, the original vampire number.

So 1395 “comes to life” only when its two fangs — 15 and 93 — join forces. 

Here's to all treats and no tricks this week!

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Week of October 20

Give your brain and body a workout.

Dual-task training combines movement with a mental challenge, like walking while solving a problem, or balancing while recalling a list. Research shows this combo can improve coordination, memory, and attention — the ultimate brain-body partnership. Try this:

1. Move safely in a way that works for you:
   • March in place or lift your knees while standing.
   • Or, instead of standing, lift your feet or tap your toes while seated.
   • You can also move your arms in place (punching forward, lifting, or circling) to get some physical activity while seated.
2. While moving, solve this problem:

Two trains are 450 miles apart. One travels 60 mph west, the other 45 mph east. When do they meet?

1. Switch sides: if standing, switch legs; if seated, switch the arms or feet you’re moving, so both sides of your body are engaged.
2. Cool down by recalling three songs with numbers in the title. 🎶

 

Answers:

Music Suggestions: Numbers Edition

Gentle/seated movement:

• “Three Little Birds” – Bob Marley & The Wailers 

Energetic movement:

• “1-2-3” by Gloria Estefan 
• “777-9311” by The Time and “867-5309/Jenny” by Tommy Tutone

 

There are lots more songs with numbers in the title - boost your brain and sing along!

When do those trains meet? When two objects move toward each other, their speeds add up for the purpose of closing the distance.

So, their combined speed = 60 mph + 45 mph = 105 mph

They need to cover 450 miles total, together.

Now divide the distance by the combined speed:

450 miles ÷105 mph =4.2857... 

That’s about 4.29 hours, or 4 hours and 17 minutes (approximately). So if they leave at 3:00 pm Central time on Thursday (after the Weekly Webinar is over!), they'll  meet at about 7:17 pm. 

Join us for the Weekly Webinar on October 23 with Dr. Robert L. Newton, Jr., PhD, from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He’ll share research-backed strategies for using movement to strengthen health across the lifespan.

 

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Week of October 13

Find the question in this image, and you'll know the answer immediately!

 

 

Hint: The question is right - or actually left - in front of your face

 

Answer:

Two!

 

Starting from the top of the grid and reading down the first column

W

H

A

T

I

S

O

N

E

P

L

U

S

O

N

E

What is one plus one?

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Week of October 3

Using your knowledge of world geography, can you identify the countries using the indicators below? In each case, the letter indicates the first letter of the country in question, and the number represents the number of letters in the country. For example, one answer for E7 would be England.

 

Z6

L10

I9

E7

B6 

J7 

P8 

M10 

P4

F4

 

Hint 1: Some alphanumeric combinations have more than one correct answer!

Hint 2: Want some guidance from a world map? Here's one showing all countries (note - one answer to this Brain Booster appears as an abbreviation on this map).

 

 

Answers:

Zambia

Luxembourg

Indonesia

Ecuador (or, as in the example, England)

Brazil or Belize

Jamaica

Paraguay or Pakistan

Madagascar, Mauritania, Montenegro (abbreviated on the map; it's in Europe, east of Italy) and Mozambique!

Peru

Fiji

 

Bonus Brain Boosters - Think of other countries that you could use for this Brain Booster - challenge your fellow travelers! And don't limit yourself to countries - try capitals, lesser-known cities, sightseeing highlights and more.

 

Exploring geography—whether by studying maps, learning about new places, or navigating our surroundings—stimulates memory, spatial awareness, and problem-solving skills. Engaging with the world’s landscapes keeps the brain active and flexible, strengthening the very pathways that support lifelong cognitive health.

 

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Week of September 29

During a recent expedition, three intrepid researchers were left stranded in the middle of Kansas with only a crate full of avocados.

During the night, Alex* woke up and, knowing about the AvoCog study at KU Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, decided to hide some of the avocados. Alex took 1/3 of them and hid them, then went back to sleep.

Bailey* woke up next and also hearing about what KU ADRC was doing with avocados, decided to hide a third of the remaining avocados and then also dozed back to sleep.

Finally, Cameron* woke up and seeing the others were asleep, took a third of what was left of the avocados.

Of course, none of the researchers knew of the other's antics, so, in the morning, they shared the remaining avocados, each receiving sixteen. How many avocados were in the crate originally?

 

*Names have been changed so as not to match any real KU ADRC researcher's name!

 

Hint: Start with how many avocados Charlie had and remember that all of the numbers are multiples of three.

 

Answer

162 apples.

Alex hid 54, leaving 108.

Bailey then hid 36, leaving 72.

Cameron then hid 24, leaving 48 available to share in the morning.

Reasoning
To work these numbers out, we start at the end and work backwards.

At the end there were 16 avocados each, therefore there were 48 avocados in total.

Charlie removed one third, leaving 48, so there must have been 72 avocados before.

Billie removed one third, leaving 72, so there must have been 108 avocados before.

Alex removed one third, leaving 108, so there must have been 162 avocados before.

 

So many avocados! These researchers know about KU ADRC's currently enrolling AvoCog  study! See the relevant research study section of this issue of MyAlliance for more details. 

 

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Week of September 22

In conjunction with this week's Weekly Webinar, try this activity on adaptive reimagining. Place the words below into pairs.

You will then have 5 lots of eight letters, each of which is an anagram of at least one other word.

Can you find the 5 pairings, and at least one anagram each?

peer

time

date

wall

june

tone

snob

seat

pale

veil

 

Hint: Start with the pair of pale and tone, and the animal that these two words make when their letters are combined and rearranged. The animal plays with deer at "Home on the Range," which will be a highlight of our upcoming Brains, Thoughts -N- Harmony event! 

 

Answers:

pale + tone = antelope
veil + june = juvenile
peer + date = repeated, departee
snob + wall = snowball
time + seat = estimate, meatiest, teatimes

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Week of September 15

What 5-digit number am I thinking of?

It has two prime digits.

Digit 3 is the highest digit.

Digit 2 is the lowest digit.

Digit 1 is higher than the sum of digits 4 and 5.

Digit 5 is half of digit 4.

Digit 1 is one smaller than digit 3.

Digit 5 is between digit 2 and digit 1

The digit 0 doesn't appear, and there are no duplicates. Don't forget that 1 isn't a prime number and the prime numbers start with 2, 3, 5...

 

 

Hint: Start by figuring out digits 4 and 5.

 

Answer: 

71842

 

Reasoning

The number can be represented as:

   - - - - -

By (5), Digit 5 is half of Digit 4, so we have four possibilities:

   - - - 2 1
   - - - 4 2
   - - - 6 3
   - - - 8 4

By (4), Digit 1 is higher than the sum of Digit 4 and Digit 5, so we can eliminate two possibilities, leaving:

   - - - 2 1
   - - - 4 2

By (7), Digit 5 is between Digit 2 and Digit 1, so we can eliminate - - - 2 1, leaving:

   - - - 4 2

By (4), Digit 1 must be higher than the sum of Digit 4 and Digit 5, so we have three possibilities:

   7 - - 4 2
   8 - - 4 2
   9 - - 4 2

By (6), Digit 1 is 1 smaller than Digit 3 we can eliminate 9 - - 4 2, and fill in Digit 3, leaving:

   7 - 8 4 2
   8 - 9 4 2

By (3), Digit 2 is the lowest digit, and must be 1:

   7 1 8 4 2
   8 1 9 4 2

By (1), the only possibility is:

   7 1 8 4 2

 

Enough numbers for now? Join us for a different sort of Brain Booster on the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, September 18, when the KU Musicians in Medicine will share with us their thoughts on how music supports brain health. And sing along with us at the Lied Center on Wednesday, October 8 for the Brains, Thoughts 'N Harmony event - details for both of these events are in this week's issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health.

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Week of September 8

This famous river has a number of cities along its course.

What is its name?

Hint: Tilt your head 90 degrees to the left and look closely.

 

Answer

The Mississippi River - the diagram is actually the word Mississippi on its side!

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Week of September 1

Boost your brain with letters AND numbers. Below are safari animals, however, each letter has been replaced by its position in the alphabet, but the spaces between the resulting numbers have been removed.

For example, DOG = 4-15-7 = 4157.

What are the safari animals?
1) 18891415

2) 3181531549125

3) 79181665

4) 38552018

5) 12515161184

6) 89161615

7) 512516811420

8) 2216611215

9) 1291514

Hint: Consider how many letters there are in the English alphabet to help you determine the letters that spell out the safari animals.

Answers:

18-8-9-14-15          = rhino

3-18-15-3-15-4-9-12-5 = crocodile

7-9-18-1-6-6-5        = giraffe

3-8-5-5-20-1-8        = cheetah

12-5-15-16-1-18-4     = leopard

8-9-16-16-15          = hippo

5-12-5-16-8-1-14-20   = elephant

2-21-6-6-1-12-15      = buffalo

12-9-15-14            = lion

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Week of August 25

Below you will find 15 well-known six-letter words, with only their endings remaining.

Can you find the words?

---rnt

---few

---ryo

---yme

---rak

---urd

---ynx

---mpi

---hom

---ovy

---lpt

---hma

---voy

---web

---mur

Hints: 

• The words are all in English and are from all parts of speech: nouns (no proper nouns), verbs (in various tenses) and adjectives.
• One word is a fun exclamation from the 1960s and '70s!
• There's a body part among these.
• One word originated in a non-English language. 
• One word repeats its last three letters. 
• Confession: the very first word was the one it took KU ADRC's Community Engagement Coordinator, Kelly G. Loeb, MSW, the longest to figure out. And by the time she did, she'd definitely done it!

 

Answers:

---rnt = learnt (the last one Kelly G. solved!)

---few = curfew

---ryo = embryo

---yme = enzyme

---rak = anorak

---urd = absurd

---ynx = larynx (body part)

---mpi = scampi (from Italian)

---hom = fathom

---ovy = groovy (1960s-70s exclamation)

---lpt = sculpt

---hma = asthma

---voy = convoy

---web = cobweb

---mur = murmur (repeated 3 letters)

 

 

Bonus boost: are the answers unique? That is, can you think of any other six-letter words that have any of these endings? If you do, tell us at myalliance@kumc.edu. 

 

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Week of August 18

Brain Booster (I asked ChatGPT to help me with a brain booster to align with our Weekly Webinar topic on grief/end of life and I think this is lovely): 

🧠🎶 Brain Booster: Legacy Lyrics – Finish the Line

These are iconic lyrics from songs often played in moments of reflection, remembrance, and resilience. Can you finish each line?

1. Like a bridge over troubled water,
   → _________________________________?
2. Lean on me, when you’re not strong,
   → _________________________________?
3. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be,
   → _________________________________?
4. And I... will always love you...
   → _________________________________?
5. What a wonderful world...
   → _________________________________?

Bonus Challenge:
Pick one of the songs above and write down a memory or person it makes you think of. Music can unlock powerful connections—and honoring those connections is a form of brain health, too.

Answer Key:

1. I will lay me down
2. And I’ll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
3. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
4. I hope life treats you kind / and I hope you have all you’ve dreamed of
5. I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do / they’re really saying, I love you

Reflection Prompt:
Choose one of the songs above and reflect:

Is there someone you’ve cared for—or are caring for now—that this song brings to mind?

You might think of a favorite shared memory, a lyric they used to sing, or even a quiet moment when the music helped you both feel less alone.
Writing it down—or simply holding it in your heart—can be a way to honor that connection.

🧠💖 Memory is more than facts—it’s feeling, too

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Week of August 11

Change a Letter

Change one letter in each word to create five new words that form a set of related items - then identify the theme. 

 

OWN 

 

STUNK

 

BADGES

 

MYTH

 

BAR

 

Hint: Night time is the right time!

 

Answer: 

OWL, SKUNK, BADGER, MOTH, BAT

They are all nocturnal animals (for whom night time is the right time!).

 

Bonus boost: This Brain Booster engages executive function, language skills, and working memory — all processes linked to the prefrontal cortex in the brain’s frontal lobe.

 

Puzzles like this activate the prefrontal cortex because they require you to hold possibilities in mind (working memory), plan and test letter changes (executive function), and draw on your mental dictionary (language skills). It’s like a mini workout for your brain’s problem-solving hub.

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Week of August 4

Speaking of moving, try this seemingly simple challenge: how fast can you type the alphabet? See your speed here: https://www.brainbashers.com/atoz 

Do it more than once and see if you can get faster! Try other variations: keep your eyes closed, look at or away from your hands. Try it on a smartphone rather than a keyboard. Challenge someone from another generation who learned how to type in a way different from you and see who is faster and more accurate. Try it at different times of day, after eating or exercising and more.  What's it like to write the alphabet instead of typing it?

Answers will vary! Once you've done this one, try the backwards - Z to A version here!

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Week of July 28

Can you complete this paragraph using two words that are anagrams of each other? An anagram is a word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another.

While driving their car at a reckless speed, the driver was distracted by their dog {?}. Luckily, they managed to complete the {?} maneuver without crashing.

Hint: There are currently two sets of answers. One set of answers has more letters than the other. The answers in each set start with the same letter (e.g., in one set they could both start with K and in the other they could both start with G). Consider nouns common and proper, verbs, and gerunds.

Answer 1

While driving their car at a reckless speed, the driver was distracted by their dog barking. Luckily, they managed to complete the braking maneuver without crashing.

Answer 2

While driving their car at a reckless speed, the driver was distracted by their dog Spot. Luckily, they managed to complete the stop maneuver without crashing.

Bonus booster: can you think of any other answers? If so, we'd love to see them - send email to myalliance@kumc.edu.

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Week of July 21

Monday, July 21 is the 202nd day of 2025 and there are 10 days left this month, which give you time to solve this brain booster: 

How many times does the word JULY appear? Forward, backward and diagonal directions all count.

 

Hint: The answer is a perfect square!

The word JULY appears 64 times in the puzzle. 64 is the perfect square of 8. Other options you could consider were 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 81 and 100. Using some reasoning and logic, you might have eliminated 1, 4, 9, 81 and 100 (the lowest and highest numbers; it would have been possible, but less likely that numbers higher than 100 would be the correct answer) from the start, then narrowed it down to 16, 25, 36, 49 and 64. From their your brain, eyes and hands do the work!

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Week of July 14

Let’s go to the movies!

You’re looking at the ratings and runtimes for three blockbuster films.

Here’s what you know:

 

The Films:

1. Gone with the Windshield
2. The Matrix of Snacks
3. Jurassic Bark

 

The Clues:

• The total runtime of all three movies is 410 minutes.
• Gone with the Windshield is twice as long as The Matrix of Snacks.
• “Jurassic Bark” is 50 minutes longer than The Matrix of Snacks.

 

Using these clues, determine how long each film is. Make sure you have enough popcorn to last for this movie marathon!

 

Answer:

The Matrix of Snacks = 90 minutes

Gone with the Windshield = 2 × 90 = 180 minutes (twice as long as The Matrix of Snacks)

Jurassic Bark = 90 + 50 = 140 minutes (50 minutes longer than The Matrix of Snacks)

Total = 90 + 180 + 140 = ✅ 410 minutes

  

These movies are made up, (wouldn’t Jurassic Bark be something?!?)  but you can see the real-life story of Mama Joe this Saturday, July 19 in a free screening at the Glenwood Arts Theater, 3707 W. 95^th St., Overland Park, KS 66206. Showtime is at 4:00 pm and the runtime for Mama Joe is 60 minutes. Following the movie, we’ll have a discussion panel and Q & A with Dr. Jeffrey Burns, Dr. Russell Swerdlow and Michelle Niedens, LSCSW of the KU ADRC, and our very own Kelly G. Loeb, MSW is in the movie! She and film director Herb Caldwell will also be part of the post-film conversation. Complimentary popcorn, drinks and caregiver/community resources will be provided to attendees. Let us know you’ll attend here: mamajoeproject.com/kansas.

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Week of July 7

Take a set of three letters from the left column, and a set of three letters from the right column and merge them together, without changing the order of the letters in each half (matching sets might not be on the same row).

Example 1: wmb + oat and mat + wob both equal wombat.

Example 2: rbt + abi and ait + rbb both equal rabbit.

Can you find the six animals that have been split in half?
cyo        aru
wls        dne
ear        fee
oky        ote
rrt          jar
agu        bve

 

Hint: No vowel is the first letter of any animal, and all of the animals are likely residents of your metropolitan zoo!

 

Answers:

Beaver, coyote, donkey, ferret, jaguar, walrus.
ear + bve = beaver

cyo + ote = coyote

oky + dne = donkey

rrt + fee = ferret

agu + jar = jaguar

wls + aru = walrus

 

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Week of June 30

What city does this image depict?

 

Hint: the bottom row of letters will lead you to the right answer, which might blow you away!

 

Answer:

Chicago

Each column of blocks features letters in alphabetical order – following that, the letters for the next row in sequence are C H I C A G O – the windy city that could blow you away!

The image might also remind you of the Chicago skyline.

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Week of June 23

In each of these sentences, replace the missing number.

The number is written as a word (e.g., five, twenty-four, thirty-three), and each sentence is correct after the replacement.

This sentence contains {?} X.
Slightly trickier, this sentence contains {?} Rs.
Even trickier, this sentence contains precisely {?} Es.
This sentence has exactly {?} letters.
This sentence, hopefully, contains {?} letters, one hyphen, five commas, and four Ys.
To finish, if this sentence had a T removed, it would contain {?} letters!

Hint: To determine the correct answers, take each sentence very literally! This Brain Booster demands that you pay close attention.

 

Answers:

To get these, read through each sentence carefully and count the number of letters mentioned.

This sentence contains one X.

Slightly trickier, this sentence contains four Rs.

Even trickier, this sentence includes precisely ten Es

.This sentence has exactly thirty-nine letters.

This sentence, hopefully, contains seventy-five letters, one hyphen, five commas, and four Ys.

To finish, if this sentence had a T removed, it would contain sixty-two letters!

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Week of June 16

It’s Your Call!

A Florida bakery wants the phone number 539-5463 because of the seven-letter phrase that the number spells. What’s the phrase? Look at a phone’s dial pad – each number has a set of letters that correspond to it. For example, 5 has JKL, so one of those letters is in the seven-letter phrase

 Hint: The area code for this number could be 786, and one word that these numbers spell is RUN…as in you may want to run to get some of the delicious dessert made from this seven-letter phrase. It could also spell SUN, which there’s plenty of in Florida!

 

Answer

KEY LIME, as in Key West, Florida’s famous dessert!
5 = JKL

3 = DEF

9 = WXYZ

5 = JKL

4 = GHI

6 = MNO

3 = DEF

 

Bonus Brain Booster:

Could your phone number spell a word or phrase that’s meaningful to you? Give it a try - this site can help you make your call: What does your phone number spell?

Always remember you can call 913-588-0555 to reach the KU ADRC for information about research opportunities, support services and more!

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Week of June 9

Using only two letters to fill in the blanks, what is the word below?

 

P _ _ _ E _ _ I _ N

 

Hint: the first letter for a synonym of this word is one of the letters. The other letter is also in the synonym, and the synonym has 9 letters.

 

Answer

POSSESSION

The two letters are O and S

The synonym is OWNERSHIP.

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Week of June 2

I am an item of jewelry.

Change one letter and I am the outer skin of fruit.

Change another letter and I am a current of air.

Change a further letter and I am an alcoholic drink.

Change one final letter and a trailing plant.

 

What was I to start and what did I become?

 

Hints: two of the answers rhyme; two of the answers look like they should rhyme, but don’t. The word final in the last clue may not mean what you think it does.

 

Answers

I am an item of jewelry: RING

Change one letter and I am the outer skin of fruit: RIND

Change another letter and I am a current of air: WIND

Change a further letter and I am an alcoholic drink: WINE

Change one final letter and a trailing plant: VINE

 

WINE and VINE rhyme. RIND and WIND look like they should rhyme but in this case they don’t.

Final in this case means to make one last letter change, but not to the final letter in the word.

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Week of May 26

Hidden in the grid in the accompanying image are eight words of seven letters each. Each word begins with the central V, and you can move one letter in any direction (left, right, up, down and diagonal) to the next letter. All of the letters in the grid are used exactly once each. What are the words?

 

Hint 1: All of the words have the same second letter.

Hint 2: One of the words is a classic ice cream flavor; perhaps you'll enjoy some on the Memorial Day holiday.

Answers

Vacancy, vaccine, vagrant, vampire, vanilla, varnish, vaulted, various.

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Week of May 19

Below are definitions of words (with the number of letters in the word in parentheses), followed by a clue for a split version of the word. For example:

PONDERING (8)...Monarch after dieting.

Would result in the word "THINKING", which could be broken into "THIN KING".

Can you decipher the five words below?

1. Certain Evening (9)...Tiny chess piece
2. Deed Subjects (10)...Cravats that are suitable
3. Ne'er-do-well (11)...Onion performing hip-hop music
4. Hawaiian person, e.g. (8)...Confessions of a scandalmonger
5. Buddhist belief (13)...Flower adorning a horse's bridle

Hint 1: the number in parentheses is the number of letters in each word.

Hint 2: Listen for silent letters!

 

Answer

1. WEEKNIGHT...WEE KNIGHT (silent K)
   2. PROPERTIES...PROPER TIES
   3. RAPSCALLION...RAP SCALLION
   4. ISLANDER (silent S) ...I SLANDER
   5. REINCARNATION...REIN CARNATION

 

Bonus Booster: Come up with your own words and clues/definitions – we’d love to see your creations; send email to myalliance@kumc.edu

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Week of May 12

Time well spent – a brain booster featuring math, logic and heart: a social worker on KU ADRC’s Cognitive Care Network team has supported three families recently. Each family needed a different blend of time and care. The social worker tracks hours in a log to aid in reflection and resources; one day's entries got smudged—and we need your help to reconstruct the math!

Here’s what we know:

The social worker spent a total of 30 hours over three cases.

The A family received twice as much time as the B family.

The C family had 4 hours more than the B family. 

Using this information, determine how many hours the social worker spent with each family.

 

Answer

A Family: 13 hours ( 2 x B)

B: Family: 6.5 hours

C Family: 10.5 hours (B + 4)

Total hours: 30

 

As a math equation:

B  + 2B + (B + 4) = 30
→ 4B + 4 = 30
→ 4B = 26
→ B = 6.5, C = 10.5 and A = 13

Feel like you could use some help navigating after all that? Visit the KU ADRC’s Care and Support Page here to learn about resources we are glad to offer, and watch the Weekly Webinar this week (and every week)! The link is always in the MyAlliance for Brain Health newsletter.

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Week of May 5

Fill in the blanks: using all of the letters A to Z, each one time only, complete these common words. All words are five letters each.

 

1. _ e _ r d
2. _ u _ e t
3. w a _ t _
4. _ u m _ y
5. _ e _ e r
6. a _ o _e
7. m i _ _ d
8. _ hew _
9. h u _ i _
10. _ a b i _
11. co _ _ h
12. h o _ _ e
13. a r g _ _

 

Hints: start with filling in less commonly used letters (e.g., q and x) and consider multiple possibilities for each word. You’ll waltz your way through!

 

Answers (the capital letters in each word are the ones that fill in the blanks):

BeArd

QuIet

waLtZ

JumPy

FeVer

aWoKe

miXEd

ChewY

huMId

HabiT

coUGh

hoRSe

argON

 

Note: Got it? Taking on the brain boosters each week is a great habit! This puzzle isn't guaranteed to have a unique answer; can you find another one? If you do, let us know at myalliance@kumc.edu.

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Week of April 28

At our staff meeting each month, the KU ADRC team receives and answers a brain booster.  Try out this month’s riddle, then see this New York Times article: Will Stimulating My Brain as I Age Keep It Sharp?

 

What one word answer matches all of these descriptions?

Third of nine (eight now)

Type of tone

Planet of the apes

Battlestar Galactica destination

 

Answer:

Earth!

It’s one of 9 [now 8] planets, a tone/hue/color, a place where apes live and in the sci fi tv show Battlestar Galactica, the destination for the surviving human fleet is the legendary planet Earth.

If you got this right, you’re in great company – one of the ADRC’s clinical research coordinators was the one who answered correctly at our meeting.

 

The answer to the New York Times article’s title question isn’t quite as definitive. The overall answer seems to be that brain boosters can be enjoyable, increase social connections and along with good practices for eating, moving, sleeping (see the recording of our 4/24 Weekly Webinar on sleep for spring cleaning here) and self-care, can contribute to good brain health. We’ll have a new Brain Booster in the next issue of MyAlliance.

 

Have a great week, Earthlings!

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Week of April 21

Starting in the bottom left corner and moving either up or right, one digit at a time and adding up the numbers along the way, what is the largest sum which can be made from these numbers?

 

5  2  5  4  1

 

7  6  1  7  3

 

5  9  4  1  5

 

2  3  8  3  2 

 

3  1  4  9  6

 

Hint: Which way is UP? Start there.

 

Answer

38 = 3 + 2 + 5 + 9 + 6+ 1 + 7 + 4 + 1

 

5  2  5  4  1

 

7  6  1  7  3

 

5  9  4  1  5

 

2  3  8  3  2 

 

3  1  4  9  6

 

Starting at the bottom left corner with 3, you have the choice of going up to 2 or right 1. 3+2 is 5, so that is the direction to go for the largest number. Continue making the choice of going up or right to the next number. You may consider, when you get to the row with 6, going up to 2 instead right to 1, since 2 is larger than 1. If you do that, you can only continue right for the rest of the box, and the final number you’ll calculate that way is 37, one digit smaller than 38. This is really a trial and error puzzle! 

Bonus brain booster: Let’s say you start at the bottom right corner, and go up and left instead. What’s the largest sum you can calculate? How many paths are there?

How about starting at any other place in the puzzle and choosing a direction or two to follow? What do you come up with? Answers will vary – let us know yours by sending email to myalliance@kumc.edu.

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Week of April 14

Determine the order of the bookstore sections based on the information below:

You’re walking through a bookstore and pass through seven distinct sections. The science fiction section is one of the first three sections you pass. Travel is one of the last three sections, but not the last.

You pass through the classics section immediately after browsing through biographies. Romance is right next to travel, either immediately before or immediately after. After you pass through classics, you walk through three other sections before reaching young adult fiction. The cookbook section follows the young adult section.

 

Hint: Pay special attention to clues that tell if a section is before, after, last, etc.

Hint 2: KU ADRC’s LEAP! program would fit well in the very last section.

 

Answer:

1. Biography
2. Classics
3. Science Fiction
4. Romance
5. Travel
6. Young Adult
7. Cookbooks

 

Rationale:

Science fiction is one of the first three sections ( it is 1, 2 or 3)

Travel is one of the last three sections, but not the last (5 or 6; not 7)

You pass through the classics section immediately after browsing through biography (classics can’t be 1)

Romance is right next to travel, either immediately before or immediately after (since travel is 5 or 6, romance must be 4 , 5, 6, or 7)

After you pass through classics (not 1), you walk through three other sections (so classics also can’ t be 5, 6 or 7) before reaching young adult fiction (so YA fiction is also not 1).

The cookbook section follows the young adult section (so cookbooks are also not 1).

Hint 2 suggests that LEAP! goes well with the very last section; of the 7 categories, LEAP! goes best with cookbooks. Then you know that YA fiction is 6, since the information says that cookbooks follow young adults.

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Week of April 7

Thursday, April 10, 2025 is the 100^th day of the year! Commemorate this centesimal* calendar coup with this Brain Booster and with our Weekly Webinar, during which we’ll solve some Brain Boosters live and talk about the benefits of these proactive puzzles. Get a head start by checking out the puzzles below and join us at 2:00 pm Central time on April 10 for more; the link to join is in this issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health and we’ll send a reminder on Thursday morning.

1. What two 2-digit numbers add up to 100 and together contain a digit that is present three times? Hint: give yourself a high five for figuring this out!
2. What do Halley’s Comet, Olympic marathons and the Kansas City Royals have in common?
3. What are the 100 most common words in English? Take a moment and make a list – we’ll reveal the answers at the April 10 Weekly Webinar!

 

*Centesimal is mid-17^th-century Latin for 100^th!

 

 

Answers:

1. 45 + 55 = 100 (the number 5 appears three times).
2. They all showed up  (and showed out) on April 10! Halley’s Comet made its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 3.2 million miles on April 10 in the year 837. At the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece,  the Olympic marathon is run on April 10, ending with the victory of Greek athlete Spyridon Louis. And on April 10, 1973, the Kansas City Royals opened their new park, Royals Stadium, with a 12-1 victory over the Texas Rangers, and an attendance of 39,476. The Royals play the Minnesota Twins in KC on 4/10/2025 at 1:10 pm! Tune in to the Weekly Webinar if you want to know why the 1896 Summer Olympics took place in April.
3. Join us for the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, April 10 to compare your list to our official one. Can’t make it? We’ll share the recording of the webinar in the April 14 issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health.

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Week of March 31

Pick a number from 1 to 9, but don't tell anyone what it is. Multiply that number by 9. If the result is a two digit number, add the two digits together. Now subtract 5.

Where the letters of the alphabet correspond to the numbers 1 through 26, pick the letter associated with the number you have left. Think of a country that begins with that letter. Take the last letter of the country, and think of an animal that begins with that letter. Take the last letter of the animal, and think of a color that begins with that letter.

Now...how many orange kangaroos are there in Denmark? And how did MyAlliance know to ask that???

 

 

Answer

Happy April Fool’s Day (Tuesday, April 1, 2025)!

 

Fooling aside, the fun and strategic math part of this brain booster is that any number multiplied by 9 will result in individual digits that add up to 9. Subtracting 5 from 9 leaves 4, and d is the fourth letter of the alphabet. We’re assuming that you chose Denmark for the country, and a kangaroo for the animal that starts with k. The last letter of kangaroo is o, and a color that starts with o is orange. Did you pick a different country, animal or color? If you did, congratulations on boosting your brain!

 

By the way, there are no orange (or any other color) kangaroos in Denmark; kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea.

 

Week of March 31

Pick a number from 1 to 9, but don't tell anyone what it is. Multiply that number by 9. If the result is a two digit number, add the two digits together. Now subtract 5.

Where the letters of the alphabet correspond to the numbers 1 through 26, pick the letter associated with the number you have left. Think of a country that begins with that letter. Take the last letter of the country, and think of an animal that begins with that letter. Take the last letter of the animal, and think of a color that begins with that letter.

Now...how many orange kangaroos are there in Denmark? And how did MyAlliance know to ask that???

 

 

Answer

Happy April Fool’s Day (Tuesday, April 1, 2025)!

 

Fooling aside, the fun and strategic math part of this brain booster is that any number multiplied by 9 will result in individual digits that add up to 9. Subtracting 5 from 9 leaves 4, and d is the fourth letter of the alphabet. We’re assuming that you chose Denmark for the country, and a kangaroo for the animal that starts with k. The last letter of kangaroo is o, and a color that starts with o is orange. Did you pick a different country, animal or color? If you did, congratulations on boosting your brain!

 

By the way, there are no orange (or any other color) kangaroos in Denmark; kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea.

 

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Week of March 24

Warning: Puns (and buns?) ahead!

In conjunction with our Weekly Webinar Hooray for Bidets this week, we offer you this bit of bidet business.

Don’t stall or keep a lid on it; answer these questions to get the highest value out of this royal flush!

 

I am a cylinder
Made up of many squares.
Spinning like a paint roller,
I offer my bounteous fare.

I can be soft and gentle,
But I am abhorred when I am not.
I am often found waiting until,
the need arises on the spot.

I am not the most charming,
But I am found in most homes.
I'm nowhere to be found? Alarming!
Often, nearby is a mirror and combs.

I blot a little here;
I wipe clean there.
You need me to be near;
A tug, a pull, a roll and I tear.

 

1. What object is the poem describing?
2.  Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill?
3.  Why do people take naps on the toilet?

 

 

Answers

1. What am I? A roll of toilet paper.
2. Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill? To get to the bottom.
3. Why do people take naps on the toilet? Because it’s in the rest room.

 

Weren’t those just poo-fect? If you liked them, stay tuned for more later this year on November 19, World Toilet Day (yes, it’s a real UN observance with the goal of safe toilets for all by 2030!). We also understand if you’d rather send them down the drain; we do hope you join us for Hooray for Bidets on the March 27 Weekly Webinar! The link to join is in this week’s issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health.

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Week of March 17

Last week we looked at Es and Os – they’re back this week for another Brain Booster!

In the following sum, the digits 0 to 9 have all been used, and the top row's digits add to 9.

Knowing that O = an odd number, and E = an even number (and zero is even), can you determine each digit?

Hint = this puzzle could also be represented as

     A B C

+  D E F

G  H  I  J

Each letter in this version of the puzzle represents one of the digits from 0 to 9; no digit is repeated.

 

Answer:

  423

+675

1098

 

Reasoning:
Remembering that:
   even + even = even
   odd  + odd  = even
   even + odd  = odd

To discuss individual letters, it's easiest to represent the sum as:
   A B C
   D E F +
————————
 G H I J

A + D has to be over 9, which means that G = 1.

B + E = I, is even + odd = odd, which means that we can't have a carry from C + F (otherwise it would have been even + odd + 1, which is even).

The 1 has already gone, so the smallest possible value for either C or F is 3, which means that the other can't be 7 or 9 (otherwise we'd have a carry).

Therefore, C and F are 3 and 5, but we don't know which is which. But we do now know that J = 8.

A + D = H, is even + even = even, which means that we can't have a carry from B + E. Therefore, E can't be 9, as this would force a carry. So E = 7.

I is the only remaining odd number, so I = 9.

Which means that B = 2.

Neither A nor D can be 0 (otherwise we would have two of the same digit). So, H = 0.

Therefore, A and D are 4 and 6 (but we don't yet know which is which).

Since the top row's digits have to add to 9, A can't be 6, so A = 4, making C = 3.

This makes the sum 423 + 675 = 1098. 

Source: brainbashers.com

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Week of March 10

What letter comes next in this sequence:

E  O  E  R  E  {?}

 

Hint: the letter after {?} is N and the letter before the first E is O. Think of letters and numbers.

Wing it and think of a red bird from Saint Louis!

 

Answer

The next letter is X.

The sequence of numbers is the series of cardinal numbers (they denote quantity) from 1 to 6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; in letters, that’s onE, twO, threE, fouR, fivE, siX. The next letter would be N for seveN, and the letter before the first E would be O for zerO.

A cardinal is a red bird from St. Louis. Join us for the March 13 Weekly Webinar featuring Marla Berg-Weger from Saint Louis University, who will share with us about the Cognitive Stimulation Therapy intervention for people with mild to moderate dementia. More information and the link to join are in this week’s MyAlliance newsletter.

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Week of March 2

Below, 10 nine-letter words have been broken into sets of three letters.

The sets are in no particular order, no set is used twice, and all of the sets are used.

Can you determine what the 10 words are?

ely rec ant htn fer ort
ent cer por sin lig ian
lio row use rar lib ive
tfo sca ing ing far eth
som dif est dig imp mho

 

Hint: the first letters of the words are D, D, F, I, L, L, P, S, S, S.

 

Answers
dif + fer + ent = different
dig + est + ive = digestive
far + mho + use = farmhouse
imp + ort + ant = important
lib + rar + ian = librarian
lig + htn + ing = lightning
por + tfo + lio = portfolio
sca + rec + row = scarecrow
sin + cer + ely = sincerely
som + eth + ing = something

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Week of February 24

Below are 8 words that have had their beginnings and endings removed. In each case, the same two letters can be found at the beginning and the end. For example, the word REspiRE.

- - yli - -

- - tat - -

- - gib - -

- - rmi - -

- - ifi - -

- - alg - -

- - qui - -

 

Hint: among the answers you’ll find an occupation, an insect, something inside a mouth, a man’s shortened name, something readable, impressive places to live and something exemplary.

 

Answers:

STyliST (occupation)

EStatES (impressive places to live)

LEgibLE (readable)

TErmiTE (an insect)

EDifiED (ED is a man’s shortened name)

AMalgAM (something inside a mouth – in a tooth filling)

REquiRE (the example gives the answer here)

 

Bonus Brain Booster: can you think of more words that could be on this list?

Here’s a city: MIaMI

A popular place on Sunday: CHurCH

Use this to put words on the screen: KEystroKE

 

Consideration: in some of the words the letter pairs are pronounced differently on each end of the word. Happy brain boosting!

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Week of February 17

What four-digit number has Digit 1 that is three smaller than Digit 4, which is one more than Digit 2, which is twice Digit 3, which is one more than one-third of Digit 4?

 

Hint: Start with digit 4 – it can only be one of three numbers. You can work back and forth from there.

 

Answer:

6849

 

Reasoning:

The Brain Booster indicates that digit 3 is more than one-third of Digit 4, so Digit 4 must be a multiple of 3, and the possibilities are
   - - - 3
   - - - 6
   - - - 9

Digit 3 is one more than one-third of Digit 4.

If Digit 4 is 3, then digit 3 is 1 + 1  = 2 ( - - 2 3)

If Digit 4 is 6, then digit 4 is 2 + 1 = 3 (- - 3 6)

If Digit 4 is 9, then digit 4 is 3 + 1 = 4 ( - - 4 9)

   
Next, we see that Digit 2 is twice Digit 3:
If Digit 3 is 2, then 2 x 2 is 4  ( - 4 2 3)
If Digit 3 is 3, then 2 x 3 is 6 ( - 6 3 6)
If Digit 3 is 4, then 2 x 4 is 8 ( - 8 4 9 )

The Brain booster tells us that Digit 4 is one more than Digit 2, which only leaves – 8 4 9

And Digit 1 is three smaller than Digit 4: 6 8 4 9.

 

What’s your favorite number? This week, we’re partial to 1, as in One Day One KU. Join us for the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, February 20, as we acknowledge the university’s annual 24 hours of giving. You’ll hear about neuroimaging from Dr. Robyn Honea, director of KU ADRC’s Neuroimaging Core. More details and the link to join are in this issue of MyAlliance.

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Week of February 10

What four related words are merged here?
SWAS PURI UINM NTTU MGER MNER

 

Hints: The four words form a complete list. A groundhog weighed in on one of the words last week.

 

Answer:

Spring, summer, autumn and winter

By the time you receive this newsletter, spring will be only 38 days away – March 20!

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Week of February 3

The phrase “from the heart" has been known to bring thoughts of love and passion to many. However, if you rearrange the 12 letters, you can come up with two 6-letter words that are opposite of each other, but also bring about thoughts of love and passion to many. What are those two words?

 

Hint: the last four letters of each word are the same.

 

Answer:

Mother and Father

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Week of January 27

Rounding out January 2025, here's another numbers game - it focuses on your executive function and working memory, plus some language logistics: 

Insert a written number into each incomplete word below, to create five words: 

O P P___ N T

C A____ S

A R ___ R K

W _____ I N G

S E N ___ C E

Hint: the sum of all of the numbers is 30. 

Bonus Brain Boosting: Once you've figured out the numbers that go into the blanks, see if you can think of more words that include numbers entirely inside them - the number must have at least one letter before it and one after it (example: stunTWOman counts for 2, but FOURth doesn't for 4). 

What words do you come up with? What number has the most words you can come up with? Any numbers that don't meet the criteria? See more details on the answer page here.

Answers

oppONEnt = 1

 

caNINEs = 9

 

arTWOrk = 2

 

wEIGHTing = 8

 

senTENce = 10

 

Bonus Brain Booster answers – There do not appear to be any words (in English) that have the numbers THREE (3), FOUR (4) FIVE (5) or SIX (6) entirely inside them – that is, with at least one letter before and after. For French speakers, the Free Dictionary includes the word carreFOURs, which translates to “a crosswords, public square or plaza” (that last one is also a Spanish word!).

 

On the other hand(s), these numbers appear in lots of words:

(not counted in this exercise are 14/(FOURteen), 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 (twenty-ONE), 31, etc., and every other instance of a numerical digit at the beginning or end of a word; also note that the Free Dictionary doesn’t include instances as high as 1,908,314, for example!):

ONE – 5, 529 (see the Free Dictionary’s word list for ONE and the other numbers starting here)

TWO – 359

SEVEN – 47 (but only two that follow the rule of this game – miSEVENt(s)

EIGHT - 181

NINE – 334

TEN – 4,357!

Want to boost your brain even more beyond? Make a list of some of the words that include one of these numbers doing double duty!

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Week of January 20

Numbers not only calculate, they tell stories too!

Using the numbers and narrative below, determine the names of the racehorses participating in the derby and how many races they won.

11 was a racehorse

22 was 12

111 race

22112

Hint: Say each digit individually aloud.

 

Answer:

There are two racehorses: their names are One One (11) and Two Two (22).

Each horse (One One and Two Two) won one race!

Read aloud:

One One was a racehorse

Two Two was one too

One One won one race

Two Two won one too!

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Week of January 13

Continuing last week’s challenge of numbering, try your hand at this one. No calculator is needed, but a pen, paper, and your own digits (fingers and toes) could help!

Painter Pete’s work duty was to paint the room numbers on all of the doors of the fourth floor of the local hotel.

Pete painted all of the numbers from 400 to 499.

How many times did he paint the number 4?

 

Hint: every digit counts!

 

Answer:

120 times.

100 times as the first digit in the numbers 400 to 499

9 times as the second digit in 440, 441, 442, 443, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449

9 times as the third digit in 404, 414, 424, 434, 454, 464, 474, 484, 494

2 times as the second and third digits in 444

 

400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499.

Further consideration: Do you want to count these digits without having to make a list or scan each one with your eyes?

Copy and paste the numbers 400 through 499 above into a blank document on your device and use the Find feature to ask how many times the number 4 appears. 120 indeed!

Using this same reasoning, could you figure out how many times the number 8 appears in the numbers 8,000 to 9,000?

Or any other number in another set of numbers?

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Week of January 6

Happy 2025! As we kick off a new year, check out this Brain Booster that’s pretty straightforward and simple: click (or tap) on the numbers 1 through 100 in numerical order. The website will time you – how long do you think it will take you? When will you move more quickly? Is one set of digits (1-9, 40-50 or 91-100, for example), easier? After you’ve done it once, try again and see how your time changes. You can do this activity on a smartphone or tablet (use your finger or a stylus to tap the number) or on a laptop or desktop computer (use a mouse). Try more than one method to see how your time changes, and visit the answer page for some post-booster considerations.

https://www.brainbashers.com/1to100.asp

 

Answer:

Answers will vary and they are all correct!

Kelly G. Loeb, MSW, Community Engagement Coordinator did this Brain Booster and got these results:

• Round 1: 4 minutes, 36.1 seconds (on a laptop computer using a mouse)
• Round 2: 5 minutes, 12.9 seconds (laptop/mouse)
• Round 3: 5 minutes, 27.8 seconds (on a tablet, using a finger)

 

I expected that I would get faster with each attempt, but I actually took longer each time! On the third round, I intentionally selected an incorrect number to see what would happen – nothing, except the clock kept ticking!

 

Considerations:

• Is a shorter/faster completion time better? Maybe it is (if you’re in a race). Or perhaps a slower/longer completion time indicates more focus and care. Either way, this activity engages the brain, reaction and processing time and fine motor skills.
• I noticed that each time I did this activity, the numbers were in a different order on the board, so I wasn’t relying on memory.
• The laptop screen (oriented horizontally on my desk; I used my right hand on the mouse) is larger than the tablet screen (held vertically in my right hand while I tapped with my pointer finger on my left/dominant hand).
• In each round I could see the timer ticking upward – I wasn’t especially aware of it in round 1, nor did I have a sense of how long it would take me.
• For rounds 2 and 3 I had times to compare and felt somewhat more pressured by the clock, and ended up taking longer. In every round I was certain one or more numbers were missing! (They weren’t.)
• See how you do with noise in the background vs. silence. Try other combinations and/or devices in your environment and see how that changes your outcome.
• Share your thoughts/results if you like by sending email to myalliance@kumc.edu.

Week of December 9

2024 certainly has flown by like a COMET (learn about this study on our last Weekly Webinar of the year on Thursday, 12/12; the access information is in this issue of MyAlliance).

As we prepare to say farewell to this year and hello to 2025, solve this Brain Booster:

Each set of letters below contains two words or phrases that are synonyms of each other. The two words/phrases in set 1 are antonyms (opposites) of the two words/phrases in set 2.

1) BHAROUONLJO

2) AAHRURETAVLOAVSIIATS

 

Hint: if you speak more than one language, you probably will fly like a comet through this brain booster, and research says that’s good for your lifelong cognition, too! Even if you are not fluent other languages, you’ll recognize all of these words.

¡Buena suerte! Bonne chance!

 

Answers:

BONJOUR and HOLA – hello in French and Spanish

AU REVOIR and HASTA LA VISTA – goodbye in French and Spanish

 

Bonus for your brain:

Can you say hello and goodbye in any other languages? Learn how using Google Translate – more than 100 languages are available.

 

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Week of December 2

The Brain Booster is back! 

We hope you enjoyed the break, the Thanksgiving holiday with lots of great food, and perhaps even some shopping the days after.

This week's puzzle recognizes that you may be turkeyed out and ready for some different food, plus thinking about the costs of things as more holidays approach.

At a restaurant, an order of a main course, 5 coffees and 13 brownies comes to $68. An order of a main course, 4 coffees and 10 brownies comes to $54. What is the cost of a an order of a main course, 1 coffee and 1  brownie?

Bonus Booster Consideration: Only in math problems do people order such unusual quantities of things!

Source: 365 Brain Puzzlers - an official Mensa International Calendar, by Fraser Simpson.

 

Answer:

An order of a main course, 1 coffee and 1 brownie costs $12.

How to get there:

Write the information in the question as two equations:

1. M (standing for main course) + 5C (standing for coffee) + 13B (standing for brownies) = 68
2. M + 4C + 10B = 54

Get expressions for M and for C in terms of B.

Subtract the second equation from the first to get C + 3B = 14. We rearrange this and find that C = 14 - 3B.

Next, substitute this into the first equation to get M +5(14-3B) + 13B = 68. Expanding this equation results in M + 70 - 15B + 13B = 68.

Simplifying that equation results in M = 2B – 2. This is an equation for M in terms of B. We want to find the value of M + C + B.

Substituting in the expressions gives (2B – 2) + (14 - 3B) + B. The Bs cancel out and this simplifies to -2 + 14, which is 12.

Whew! After all that calculating, have a main course, some coffee and as many brownies as you like! You’re in good company with Mensa International.

And if your brain needs some nurturing, check out the Mindful Minutes in this week’s newsletter, give Today’s Tip a try and join us for a conversation with the Cognitive Care Network on the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, December 5 at 2:00 pm Central.

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Week of November 18

Who baked the cake?

Without anyone seeing it happen, someone left a beautiful chocolate cake in the break room for everyone to enjoy.

Wanting to express their gratitude, a curious group of dessert lovers asked around. Below is a summary of the statements they received.

The investigative team members know that each person told the truth in one of the statements and lied in the other.

From this information, can you tell who baked the cake?

Ashley said:
   It wasn't Drew
   It wasn't Billie

Billie said:
   It wasn't Casey
   It was Drew

Casey said:
   It was Ashley
   It wasn't Drew

Drew said:
   It was Casey
   It wasn't Ashley

 

Answer
Billie baked the cake.

 

Reasoning
We know that each of them told the truth in one of the statements and lied in the other.

So according to Ashley, as one of her statements is false, it must have been either Drew or Billie.

If it was Drew, then Billie's statements would both be true, which isn't allowed.

Therefore, it was Billie, which agrees with Casey and Drew's statements.

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Week of November 11

When are these answers correct?

6 +8 = 5
21 - 10 = 2
9 x 8 = 9
46 / 2 = 5
(6 x 5) - (4 + 9) = 8
62 / (5 + 3 - 6) = 4

 

Hint: Consider that all of the answers are only one digit.

 

Answer:

They're correct when the answer is the sum of the real answer's digits.

6 + 8 = 14 (1+4 is 5)
21-10 = 11 (1 +1 is 2)
9 x 8 = 72 (7 + 2 = 9)
46 / 2 = 23 (2 + 3 = 5)
(6 x 5)-(4 + 9) = 17 (1 + 7 = 8)
62 / (5 + 3 - 6) = 31 (3 + 1 = 4)

For answers to caregiver questions, attend the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, November 14 at 2:00 pm CT. The link is in this issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health.

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Week of November 4

Which of the four shapes comes next in this sequence?

Hint: Keep things in numerical order. Squinting your eyes might help.

 

Answer:

C

The shapes are the spaces between the digits in the numbers 27, 28, 29, and 30, therefore C is the correct answer, as it is the space between the digits in the number 31.

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Week of October 28

Trick or Treat – what does this string of digits add up (or subtract down) to?

0+0-0+1-1+2-2+3-3+4-4+5-5+6-6+7-7+8-8+9-9+10-10+11-11+12-12+13-13+14-14+15-15+16-16+17-17+18-18+19-19+20-20+21+22-22+23-23+24-24+25-25+26-26+27-27+28-28+29-29+30-30+31-31+32-32+33-33+34-34+35-35+36-36+37-37+38-38+39-39+40-40+41-41+42-42+43-43+44-44+45-45+46-46+47-47+48-48+49-49+50-50=??

Hint: Sing along - I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes!

 

 

Answer:

21!

You don’t actually need to do all the math to calculate this.

This mile-long stream of numbers and math operations seems like it would be quite a trick to solve. The treat to getting the answer is to look closely at the numbers and the pattern of plus and minus signs alongside them. Starting with 0 and ending with 50, you are first adding, then subtracting each number – all except for the number 21! You’re only adding 21 to what turns out to be 0 on each side of it.

To treat both your mind and body, check out this bonus Halloween Brain and Body Booster:

https://grfit4kids.org/resources/Halloween-Brain-Boosters-2017.pdf

Fun fact: “The Sign” is a #1 pop song released October 29, 1993 by Swedish band Ace of Base. For the lyrics and more about this international hit, visit https://genius.com/Ace-of-base-the-sign-lyrics

 

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Week of October 21

Time flies when you’re having fun!

As far as MyAlliance for Brain Health is concerned, Mondays (when you receive the newsletter) and Thursdays (Weekly Webinar day!) are the best days of the week. Work on solving this tongue-twister of a brain booster, enjoy the whole newsletter, and join us on Thursday, October 24 for a presentation on Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome.

What day would tomorrow be if...

...yesterday was five days before the day after Sunday's tomorrow?

 

Answer
Saturday.

Reasoning
It's best to work backwards:

   "Sunday's tomorrow"

is Monday.

   "the day after Sunday's tomorrow"

is therefore Tuesday.

   "five days before the day after Sunday's tomorrow"

is therefore Thursday.

   "yesterday was five days before the day after Sunday's tomorrow"

yesterday was Thursday, making today Friday. Therefore tomorrow is Saturday.

Source: brainbashers.com

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Week of October 14

Hidden in these sentences are the numbers 1 to 10 (in words).

A number might appear in more than one sentence, but there is only one way to use all of the sentences and find all ten numbers.

The robins love hiding amongst the smooth reeds.

It's always worth looking after your friends, even if they've upset you.

Even heavyweight boxers like using soft tissues when they have a cold.

To avoid the calf, I veered sharply to the left.

The eggs were boxed thirteen instead of a dozen in each baker's delivery box.

Having salmon every day for lunch gets a little boring after a while.

The attendance at the local football match exceeded last week's by many thousands.

We need to waterproof our boots to make sure we don't get wet.

Meeting friends after work allows executives to network effectively.

The orchestra sounded magnificent with the three virtuosi xylophonists.

Hints: the number eight appears at the end of a word. Sometimes a number is hidden in more than one word.

 

Answers:

3 – The robins love hiding amongst the smooTH REEds.
7 – It's always worth looking after your friendS, EVEN if they've upset you.
8 – Even heavywEIGHT boxers like using soft tissues when they have a cold.
5 – To avoid the calF, I VEered sharply to the left.
9 – The eggs were boxed thirteen instead of a dozeN IN Each baker's delivery box.
1 – Having salmON Every day for lunch gets a little boring after a while.
10 – The atTENdance at the local football match exceeded last week's by many thousands.
4 – We need to waterprooF OUR boots to make sure we don't get wet.
2 – Meeting friends after work allows executives to neTWOrk effectively.
6 – The orchestra sounded magnificent with the three virtuoSI Xylophonists.

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Week of October 7

Below are thirteen 5-letter words, each of which has had two of its letters removed.

Every letter of the alphabet, from A to Z, is represented in the blank spaces one time. For example, if you solved g _ a _ e for grace, you would not then use the letters r or c in any other blank space in the puzzle.

The remaining letters in each word are in the correct order.

There are no words that are spelled differently based on location (e.g., favour or favor) and there are no plurals.

Can you find the original words?
1. -ai-e

2. s-ua-
3. -e-el
4. -o-ed
5. -na-e
6. fog--
7. c--mp
8. b--jo
9. -r-it
10. -re-t
11. -av-n
12. mu--c
13. mou--

Hint: one word is a musical instrument, and another word is part of a word in this sentence!

 

Answers
-ai-e = maize (MZ)

s-ua- = squad (QD)

-e-el = jewel (JW)

-o-ed = foxed (FX)

-na-e = knave (KV)

fog-- = foggy (GY)

c--mp = clump (LU)

b--jo = banjo (AN)

-r-it = orbit (OB)

-re-t = crept (CP)

-av-n = raven (RE)

mu--c = music (SI)

mou-- = mouth (TH)

 

The solution above uses common words; the solution below uses the less common word CLOMP.
-ai-e = maize (MZ)

s-ua- = squad (QD)

-e-el = jewel (JW)

-o-ed = boxed (BX)

-na-e = knave (KV)

fog-- = foggy (GY)

c--mp = clomp (LO)

b--jo = banjo (AN)

-r-it = fruit (FU)

-re-t = crept (CP)

-av-n = raven (RE)

mu--c = music (SI)

mou-- = mouth (TH)

 

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Week of September 29

Letter by Letter

On the October 3 Weekly Webinar, we’ll talk with Deborah Shouse about her new book Letters from the Ungrateful Dead: A Grieving Mom’s Surprising Correspondence with her Deceased Adult Daughter. Tune in for insight, nurturing, and yes, laughs, about caregiving, grief, and connection (the link is in this issue of MyAlliance). Boost your brain with the challenge below in which you transform one word into another, letter by letter.

A complete word is a word in which every letter, in turn, can be replaced by another to form a new word.

For example, RUG is a complete word because:
   -ug = hug
   r-g = rig
   ru- = run

How many of the following words are not complete words? Proper nouns and names are not allowed.
team

cost

flew

ward

fail

look

soft

most

lamp

load

 

Reminder: you must change one letter at a time, starting with the first letter of the word and going in order until the last letter of the word.

 

Answer
Three of the words are not complete: flew, rook, lamp.

Reasoning
The remaining 7 words can be changed as follows:
team: 

-eam = beam
 t-am = tram
 te-m = term
 tea- = tear

cost: 

-ost = host
 c-st = cast
 co-t = coat
 cos- = cosy

flew: NOT COMPLETE

-lew = blew
 f-ew = ---- *
 fl-w = flow
 fle- = flex

ward:

 -ard = card
 w-rd = word
 wa-d = wand
 war- = warm

fail:

 -ail = nail
 f-il = foil
 fa-l = fall
 fai- = fair

rook:NOT COMPLETE

 -ook = book
 r-ok = ---- *
 ro-k = rock
 roo- = roof

soft:

 -oft = loft
 s-ft = sift
 so-t = sort
 sof- = sofa

most: 

-ost = cost
 m-st = mast
 mo-t = moat
 mos- = moss

lamp: NOT COMPLETE 

-amp = damp
 l-mp = lump
 la-p = ---- *
 lam- = lamb

load: 

-oad = road
 l-ad = lead
 lo-d = loud
 loa- = loaf

Source: www.brainbashers.com/puzzle/ztiq

Bonus Brain Booster: Try your hand and brain at finding more complete (and incomplete) words. We’d love to see your answers – send an email to myalliance@kumc.edu.

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Week of September 23

How long does it take to get to 1 million seconds? How about 1 billion seconds?

1. The year 2001 started at the midnight that falls between December 31, 2000 and January 1, 2001. What was the day, date and time exactly 1 million seconds later?

1. Friday, January 12, 2001, 1:46:40 pm
2. Monday, December 31, 2001, 11:59:59 pm
3. Sunday, February 29, 2004 (Leap Day!), noon
4. It hasn’t happened yet

 2. At what age is someone 1 billion seconds old?

1. 65
2. 18
3. 31
4. No one could possibly live that long

3. When will (or did) you reach the age of 1 billion seconds?

Use the calculator here to find out!

https://www.brainbashers.com/billion.asp

Hint: Perhaps the lyrics in Rent’s Seasons of Love will help you scale these mega numbers – “525, 600 minutes! How do you measure, measure a year?”

 

 

Answers:

1. Friday, January 12, 2001 at 1:46:40 pm was 1 million seconds past midnight on January 1, 2001!
2. A little more than 31.5 years, to be precise! Lots of people make it to 1 billion seconds. To make it to 1 trillion seconds, you’d have to be 31,688 years old!
3. Answers vary depending on your date of birth!

 

The difference between 1 million seconds, 1 billion seconds and 1 trillion seconds is vast: 12 days, 31 years and 31,688 years, respectively! We’re glad only 604,800 seconds  (7 days) pass between each issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health!

 

Time flies when you’re having fun! Join us on Thursday, September 26 for the Weekly Webinar on Connecting the Dots: How Key Habits Work Together to Support Brain Health!

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Week of September 16

A participant has been pacing herself in a 10k race. She has to pick up the pace in the final lap to win the race. Can you help this athlete increase her speed by changing one letter at a time? Each step must produce a valid word in the English language.

SLOW ----> FAST

 

Hint 1: two sets of words in the answer rhyme.

Hint 2: If the participant wins the race, there will be a parade featuring these must-have items that you can spell using the new letters.

Pick up your PACE and join us on Thursday, September 19 for the Weekly Webinar about PACE – Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. The link to join is in this issue of MyAlliance.

 

Answer

Hint 1: soot and loot rhyme; so do last and fast

Hint 2: The new letters are T, O, L, S, A, F = FLOATS are must-have items in parades.

 

Words: SLOW, SLOT, SOOT, LOOT, LOST, LAST, FAST

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Week of September 9

Happy 9/9! 9 might be a lucky number: In many places, including China and Japan, 9 is considered a lucky number and is associated with longevity and good fortune. This week, the number 9 will help boost your brain when you solve the brain booster.

Discover the link joining the following nine words in order to transform them into nine new* answer words.
park
plum
mania
bear
cod
of
son
bus
tax

 

Hint: keep these nine words in the order they are presented, and remember your ABCs!

*Fun fact about the number 9:

The words in French, German, and Spanish for the number nine are all connected with their respective words for new. In French, neuf is used for both nine and new. Likewise, neun means nine in German, while neu means new; in Spanish, nueve means nine while nuevo means new.

 

Answers:

park - parka

plum- plumb

mania – maniac

bear – beard

cod – code

of – off

son – song

bus – bush

tax – taxi

Each answer word is derived by appending to the corresponding original word each successive letter of the alphabet, starting with the letter a.

So park becomes parka, plum becomes plumb and mania becomes maniac, and so forth.

Bonus Brain Booster: can you think of another set of 9 words that follows this or a similar pattern? Try using the rest of the alphabet. It seems like the letters J and Q might be especially challenging!

If you do come up with another set of words, let us know at myalliance@kumc.edu.

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Week of September 2

Bike or Walk or ???

On the next Weekly Webinar, Amy Scrivner of BikeWalkKC addresses the question, “What happens when driving is a prerequisite for thriving?” Cycling through this Brain Booster may have you searching for solutions to transportation trouble. Join us on September 5 to hear Amy’s expertise; the link is in this issue of MyAlliance for Brain Health.

Justin Time was on a grueling trip from his hometown of Neutron to the town of Proton. Justin and his bicycle were able to hitch a ride to the town of Electron, which was exactly halfway to Proton. The ride lasted one hour, and was ten times faster than if Justin had cycled the same distance. When Justin got out of the car at Electron he noticed his tire was flat, which meant walking the rest of the way to Proton. Walking took him twice as long as cycling. When Justin finally reached Proton, he repaired his bicycle tire and rode the entire distance home to Neutron. How much time did each trip take and which of the two was faster?

 

Answer:

The return trip was faster. Since it was one hour to Electron by car, which was ten times faster than cycling (10 hours), the time from Electron to Proton took an additional 20 hours since he walked, and walking took twice as long as cycling. Therefore, the first half of the trip took a total of 21 hours. The return trip took Justin 20 hours, since he cycled the entire distance and cycling is twice as fast as walking.

This Brain Booster helps us to see how crucial multiple methods of transportation are! Hear more from Amy Scrivner of BikeWalkKC on the September 5 Weekly Webinar.

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Week of August 26

Daniel, my son, is exactly one fifth of my age. In 21 years time, I will be exactly twice his age. My wife is exactly seven times older than my daughter, Jessica. In 8 years time, my wife will be three times older than Jessica. How old are Daniel and Jessica now?

 

Hints: Seven is a lucky number here! Thinking about even vs. odd numbers as well as multiples of seven and three is a good strategy. You can use a calculator (and/or your fingers)!

 

Also, speaking of ages, join us to hear author Sonya Jury talk about Mom Forgot My Birthday: A Daughter’s Journey through Alzheimer’s at our special hybrid Weekly Webinar on Thursday, August 29 at 2:00 pm Central time. Details are in this issue of MyAlliance.

 

Answer:

Daniel is 7 and Jessica is 4.

 

Rationale

Start with the hint: lucky number 7. Daniel is 1/5 of the speaker’s age, and 7 x 5 = 35. In 21 years, the speaker will be 35 + 21 = 56. At 56, the speaker is twice Daniel’s age, making Daniel age 28 in 21 years. 56 is exactly twice 28. Daniel is age 7.

Starting with an odd number like 7 leads you to an even number, which is important because the speaker mentions being exactly twice Daniel’s age. If you start Daniel at an even-numbered age, like 14, that makes the speaker an even-numbered age 70, and in 21 years the speaker would be 91, which is not exactly twice Daniel’s then-age of 35. Starting with an even number will lead to odd numbers for the speaker’s age in 21 years, and those cannot be evenly divided by two.

If you start with an odd number other than 7, the equation doesn’t work (for example, 9 x 5 = 45. If the speaker is 45, in 21 years, the speaker would be 66. At age 9, in 21 years Daniel would be 30, and 66 is not exactly twice 30. Whew!

As for Jessica, we know that the speaker’s wife is currently seven times older than Jessica and will be three times Jessica’s age in 8 years, so consider numbers that are multiplied by 7 and that, when added to 8, are divisible by 3. 4 (Jessica’s current age) x 7 = 28 (the wife’s current age). In eight years, Jessica will be 12, and 12 x 3 is 36. 28 + 8 = 36. Jessica is age 4. Solving this one takes a bit of trial and error, and it’s fun to see it all add up!

Source: braingle.com (for the original question and answer); Kelly G. Loeb, MSW for the hints and explanation. Follow MyAlliance for more math marvels!

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Week of August 19

This week’s challenge involves letter boxing. Complete the word square by inserting the 9 letters below into the grid, to create the same words reading down & across.

D E E L L L O O O

E  A  C  H
A  _   _   _
C  _   _  _
H  _  _  _

 

Hint: one of the words is a hint of weather to come.

 

Answer:

E A C H
A L O E
C O O L
H E L D

Each, Aloe, Cool, Held

 

Cool weather may soon be on the way – we’re only 34 days away from September 22, the first day of fall!

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Week of August 12

In each sentence a word is concealed, such as the word no in sentence five. If you can find the buried words and read them in order from 1 to 6, they will form a well-known proverb.

1. The word buried here has only one letter.
2. Did you find a jelly roll in Gaskin's Bakery?
3. It's the best one I've ever seen.
4. The rug at her stairway was made in India.
5. He's an old friend.
6. Amos sold his bicycle to a friend.

 

Hint: Unlike a certain band, you will get plenty of satisfaction from solving this brain booster!

 

Answer

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Be sure to roll into our Weekly Webinars every Thursday at 2:00 Central time!

1.The word buried here has only one letter.  A
2.Did you find a jelly roll in Gaskin's Bakery? rolling
3.It's the best one I've ever seen. stone
4.The rug at her stairway was made in India. gathers
5.He's an old friend. no
6.Amos sold his bicycle to a friend. moss

 

For more brain boosting, try your hand at hiding another well-known phrase into a group of sentences. How about one of these:

Every cloud has a silver lining

Birds of a feather flock together

We’d love to see what you come up with!

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Week of August 5

This Thursday is 08/08 - an august day, indeed! In this week's Brain Booster, there are 8 words to find with the help of these 8 definitions and anagrams. What are they?

Boost your brain even more by joining us on Thursday, 08/08 at 2:00 pm Central for our Weekly Webinar on a new biomarker study for Alzheimer's disease.

1) What the shipbuilder did (hand-clue)
2) Found in toothpaste (dour-file)
3) Used to reckon time (land-acre)
4) A large kettle (laud-corn)
5) Found in newspaper (nail-heed)
6) Campers need them (orbs-dell)
7) Eccentric people (dabs-doll)
8) A wooden interlocking joint (viol-date)

Answers

1) Launched
2) Fluoride
3) Calendar
4) Cauldron
5) Headline
6) Bedrolls
7) Oddballs
8) Dovetail

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Week of July 29

Juan asks Javier: will you lend me the bicycle tomorrow, Monday?

Javier answers: I will lend it to you 6 days after the day before yesterday.

When will Juan get the bike?

 

Answer:

Juan will get the bike on Wednesday.

He asks for the bike tomorrow, Monday, which makes today Sunday. Since it’s Sunday, the day before yesterday (Saturday) is Thursday, and 6 days after that is Wednesday.

Speaking of Wednesday, join us for the next session of the Family Series on Wednesday, July 31! We’ll be talking about activities and engagement. Register here

 

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Week of July 22

Just as our currently running Family Series is helping caregivers keep things in order, this week’s Brain Booster fits that category.

Aviva was planning to take a trip around the world. She liked names that were similar to hers, so she made a list of places she would like to visit.

However, one of these places doesn't belong. Which one is it?

Arrawarra, Australia
Caraparac, Peru
Daba Qabad, Somalia
Ilokano, Polynesia

Krape Park, Illinois
Nagubugan, Philippines
Oktahatko, Florida

Hint: Last week’s Brain Booster will help you move forward.

 

Answer:

Ilokano, Polynesia is the place Aviva won’t go – unlike all the other city names, it’s not a palindrome (a word/phrase that reads the same forward and backward).

 

Bonus Brain Booster: can you identify any other palindromic place names? Check out this Wikpedia article for a list!

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Week of July 15

Last week we considered Series Seriousness; this time we'll boost our brains by putting things in order! Speaking of series and putting things in order, check out our Family Series starting 7/17 - details in this issue of MyAlliance.

Take the list of words below and arrange them into 3 sentences that all have something in common. Each word is only used once for each time it appears in the list. Punctuation is not an issue in this teaser in the initial placement of words. Only names are capitalized to start with.

DAD, LET, LETS, LEW, MARGE, MISSES, NO, NORAH, ORDERED, ROSES, SEE, SHARON'S, SIMON, TELEGRAM, TELL, WE'LL,

What are the sentences and what do they have in common?

Hint: they go both ways. 

Answer:

1: MARGE LETS NORAH SEE SHARON'S TELEGRAM.
2: WE'LL LET DAD TELL LEW.
3: NO MISSES ORDERED ROSES, SIMON.

All three sentences, when correctly placed, are palindromes. They read the same backward and forward.

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Week of July 8

Series Seriousness!

In conjunction with our upcoming Family Series (watch our webinar about this class for family caregivers on Thursday, July 11; use the link in this issue of MyAlliance), figure out the number that comes next in the following series:

3, 7, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 25, 30, 41, 45, 52, 54, 56, 59, 61, 65, 70, ?

Hint: When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

 

Answer:

This is a series of Roman Numerals consisting of three symbols, so next up is 91: XCI

3 - III
7 - VII
12 - XII
14 - XIV
16 - XVI
19 - XIX
21 - XXI
25 - XXV
30 - XXX
41 - XLI
45 - XLV
52 - LII
54 - LIV
56 - LVI
59 - LIX
61 - LXI
65 - LXV
70 – LXX

91 – XCI

 

Bonus Brain Booster: What other Roman numerals have three digits each? What’s the largest Roman numeral with 3 digits you can think of?

Use the Roman numeral calculator here to confirm your figures!

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Week of July 1

Unscramble the words relevant to this week’s holiday below, then take the letters from each word as instructed.

UHOTRF - letters 1 and 4
CEBRUAEB - letters 3 and 5
RSEKLAPSR - letters 1 and 5
LREEAWAD - letter 5
GNESCROS - letter 2
BYRETIL - letter 2

Now unscramble the letters you have collected!

 

Hint: work backwards from the words you unscramble to the selected letters to figure out the final solution if you need to!

 

Answers

FOURTH = F, R

BARBECUE = R, E

SPARKLERS = S, K

DELAWARE* = W

CONGRESS = O

LIBERTY = I

 

New word: FIREWORKS!

 

*Bonus fourth fact: Why is DELAWARE included in this list?

Delaware is known by the nickname The First State because on December 7, 1787, it became the first of the 13 original states to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

 

Happy 4^th of July!

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Week of June 24

Read the poem below and decide who (or what) is narrating and what the character is naming.

Yeah, they keep me locked up, but I guess I'm thankful, in short.
I hand out the beatings, while my neighbors import and export.
We make a good team, especially me as the muscle,
But with two dozen guards, I'm glad we never tussle.
But really, I got a lotta my own connections,
Imports, exports, with thousands collectin'.
But between us, there's really no competition,
I call it harmonizin' cause we're on the same mission.
No one is unnecessary, or, you know, too small,
The guy upstairs is the boss of it all.
He's also incarcerated, but for his good I bet it is,
Business is good, so long as we get the messages.

 

Hint: solving this riddle does a body good!

 

Answer

 

Body parts are at the heart of this mindful operation!

The HEART is the one doing the talking. He is thankful to be “locked up" or guarded by the "two dozen guards," the RIBS that humans have in 2 pairs. The ribs protect and guard both the heart and the LUNGS (2). The LUNGS are the “neighbors” that have the job of "importing" and "exporting" oxygen and carbon dioxide. The heart is - literally speaking - the muscle, and “hands out the beatings” (heartbeats). Of course, the heart itself has many "connections" or veins, arteries, and capillaries that "import" and "export" that valuable fluid we call blood. None of these members' job is unnecessary, or small, and they never compete with each other because they have the one mission of keeping a person alive. And, last but not least, the "guy upstairs" who is "the boss of it all" is “incarcerated” by - yes - the skull. He is none other than the BRAIN, which sends electrical messages to all the other members via nerves, which tell them what to do. Business is good so long as these messages are sent. If they aren't, nothing is moving, and....well, then you're dead.

Source: www.braingle.com

So that we don’t end on a morbid note, we’ll close by saying the heart, lungs, ribs, brain and other body organs, muscles, bones and other important parts work together to keep us alive. Our research at the KU ADRC focuses on the best to ways care for ourselves and each other.

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Week of June 17

A 3-letter word has been taken out of each of the following words. Can you figure it out?

S _ _ _

_ _ _ AL

MA _ _ _ RE

_ _ _ LE

Hints: the same 3-letter word is correct for each item, and when you know this word, it's Uber easy to get a Lyft!

Here's another one:

A four-letter word has been taken out of each of the following words.

G_ _ _ _FUL

EMB_ _ _ _

B_ _ _ _S

UNT_ _ _ _ABLE

Bonus: there's a second four-letter word that can fit in one of the words above. What is it and which word can it also fit?

Answers

Group 1: the word is CAB – making the words SCAB, CABAL, MACABRE and CABLE

Group 2: the word is RACE – making the words GRACEFUL, EMBRACE, BRACES and UNTRACEABLE

Bonus: the word RATE can also be added to G_ _ _ _ FUL, making GRATEFUL, which we are for your subscription to MyAlliance!

Boost your brain more by thinking of even more words!

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Week of June 10

Numbers Game – Sign of the Times

Put your operations in order by placing the correct mathematical sign in each space so that the equation is correct.

 

195 __ 10 = 205

1600 __ 16 = 100

2 __ 2 = 4

913 __ 816 __ 66205 __ 2024 = 3.172.87

A prize for whoever figures this one out! Calculators are allowed! Don’t die hard on this one.

 

Bonus question: True or False? Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

 

 

Answers

195 + 10 = 205

1600 / 16 = 100 (anything that represents a division sign is correct here)

2 + OR x 2 = 4 (not a trick question)

913 – 816 x 66205 / 2024 = 3.172.87 (not a trick question either!)

 

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? This is a hotly debated topic. Join us on the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, June 13 to share your opinion!

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Week of June 3

What is the missing number in this SEQUENCE?

22  13  ?  17  13  36  33  13

Hint: You might think math matters in this brain booster. Math is always a great way to train your brain. However, in last week’s Brain Booster, we traveled around the world using a QWERTY keyboard. You’ll find that useful for this week’s challenge too!

For more about training your brain, watch the recording of our May 30 Weekly Webinar. Rosie Pasqualini tells us the truth about brain training!

 

Answer

This series of numbers spells out the word SEQUENCE using a  QWERTY keyboard.

The missing number is 11, which stands for row 1, letter 1, or Q

 

22  13  11  17  13  36  33  13

 

S = row 2, letter 2

E = row 1, letter 3

Q = row 1, letter 1

U = row 1, letter 7

E = row 1, letter 3

N = row 3, letter 6

C = row 3, letter 3

E = row 1, letter 3

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Week of May 27

On last week's webinar, we talked travel (watch the recording for tips here)! 

Flex your fingers on your keyboard to think of these clever destinations:

1. What country can you spell using only one row on a standard keyboard? Can you think of a second one?
2. What world city can you spell using only one row on a keyboard? (Hints: as you figure this out, don't do the first four letters of this capital place's name!) 
3. What US state can you spell using only one row on a keyboard?
4. What continent can you spell using only one row on a keyboard?

Another hint: One row of your keyboard is absolutely not involved - think about why!

Answers

1. PERU. 2^nd one: EIRE (another name for IRELAND)
2. QUITO, the capital city of ECUADOR. Don’t QUIT!
3. ALASKA
4. EUROPE

Regarding the hint: the bottom row on your keyboard – Z X C V B N M – has no vowels!

If you’re doing the Brain Booster to train your brain, check out our Weekly Webinar on The Truth about Brain Training on Thursday, May 30 – the link is in your MyAlliance newsletter.

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Week of May 20

With summer just a breath away, many will soon get on the road (or the water or in the air) for travel time! This week's Brain Booster is a travel tally. Using the clues below, determine how many miles the Carr family rode the wheels each day of their trip:

On the first 5 days of vacation, the Carr family drove 1,427 miles. They left on Friday, and the minimum and maximum distances for one day's trip were 200 and 355 miles. They arrived at their destination late on Tuesday.

1. Since they left late, they drove the least number of miles on the first day.
2. They drove 105 miles more on the second day than on the first.
3. On Monday they drove the most.
4. On Tuesday they drove 68 miles less than on Saturday.

How many miles did the Carr family ride the wheels each day? 

Hint: it may be helpful to use the clues out of numerical order!

For more about travel, tune in to the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, March 23 to hear travel tips for people experiencing cognitive change and caregivers. The Zoom link is in this newsletter.

Answer

Friday – 200 miles (the family’s minimum distance in one day was 200, and clue 1 says they drove the least number of miles on the first day)

Saturday – 305 miles (the family drove 105 miles more on the second day than on the first; 200 + 105 = 305)

Sunday – 330 miles (the family drove 1,427 miles in total, so if we add up 200 + 305 + 355 + 237 miles we get 330 miles left for Saturday).

Monday – 355 miles (clue 4: On Monday they drove the most, and we know that 355 is their maximum mileage for one day)

Tuesday – 237 miles (on Tuesday they drove 68 miles less than on Saturday, and we know they drove 305 miles on Saturday).

 

Bonus consideration – if you were to leave from your home on a Friday, and drive the same number of miles each day as the Carr Family, where would you be by Tuesday?

Use a map to figure it out (answers will vary – feel free to let us know yours by sending email to myalliance@kumc.edu).

 

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Week of May 13

This week's Brain Booster is a chain reaction - your goal is to connect the first word with the last word by making compound words.

Example:
Ball
Game
Some
Time
Table
Ware
House

The words connecting ball and house are:
ballgame
gamesome
sometime
timetable
tableware
warehouse

Your turn! Make the chain between LOW and SHOT. Use the list and number of letters following the first word to guide you. 

LOW
(4) D - - -
(4) F - - -
(3) O - -
(4) S - - -
(4) L - - -
SHOT

Answers:

Lowdown
Downfall
Fallout
Outside
Sidelong
Longshot

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Week of May 6

Games and toys are great tools for family fun, reminiscence and brain boosting! This week's Brain Booster is a logic problem featuring toys. Continue the fun with our Mindful Minutes video about Family Games, and participate in our Weekly Webinar about the new Story Connections program at the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures. 

Abby, Bob, Cindy and Don went to the toy store to get a new toy. They each bought a different toy. They paid a different price for their items. Work out who bought what toy for what price.

Kids: Abby, Bob, Cindy, Don
Toys: Ball, Jump rope, Paper doll, Book
Prices: $1, $1.50, $2, $2.50

1) A boy bought the ball.
2) Cindy paid with a bill and got less than $3 back.
3) The $1 item was made from paper.
4) The boys only brought $1.75 each.
5) The skipping rope was exactly $1 more than the ball.
6) The book was not $2.
7) Someone with an "n" in their name bought the ball.

Use the grid solver here to help you solve. 

If you’d like to check out the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures, join us for the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, May 9! We have free museum admission passes to give away – attend the webinar for a chance to win.

For the answers, click here.

Answers:

Abby bought the paper doll for $2

Bob bought the book for $1

Cindy bought the jump rope for $2.50

Don bought the ball for $1.50

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Week of April 29

The nose knows!

On last week's Weekly Webinar (see the recording here), Dr. Jennifer Villwock informed us about how smell affects brain health. What a perfect segue into this week's literal Brain Booster!

Close your eyes and try to recreate the following smells. This exercise helps improve your ability to form concrete impressions from memory.

1. A rotten egg
2. Pumpkin pie
3. Wet dog
4. Freshly cut grass
5. A new car

Here's another set of smells: 

1. A ripe orange
2. Hot chocolate
3. A rose
4. A skunk
5. Cigar smoke

How well did you do at recreating the smells?

Answers and experiences will vary with this week's Brain Booster; after all, the nose knows! 

During her presentation, Dr. Villwock mentioned that sudoku is not her favorite brain booster! But if you like that number puzzle, try some here - options range from easy to extreme! The sudoku site will give you the correct answers.

Answers and experiences will vary with this week's Brain Booster; after all, the nose knows! 

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Week of April 22

April is National Poetry Month in the United States! In honor of words that paint pictures and arouse aromas, solve these poetic brain boosters:

 

1. I am a word of meanings three.
   Three ways of spelling me there be.
   The first is an odor, a smell if you will.
   The second some money, but not in a bill.
   The third is past tense, a method of passing things on or around.
   Can you tell me now what these words are that have the same sound?

  

1. What popular expression is represented here?
   
   rose = rose = rose = rose

 

Which poet presented it: William Shakespeare, Shel Silverstein, Gertrude Stein or Taylor Swift?

 

Answers

1. The three words: scent, cent and sent.

 

1. The expression “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose ” is from the poem “Sacred Emily” by Gertrude Stein. Read the whole thing here.

William Shakespeare’s exact birthdate is not officially known and is often celebrated on April 23 (this week!) around the world – Shakespeare’s Juliet famously said to Romeo, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Shel Silverstein wrote the short poem with a twist, “Ridiculous Rose”

Taylor Swift, who wrote several songs with roses in the lyrics, released a surprise double album this month: The Tortured Poet’s Department / The Tortured Poet’s Department: The Anthology.

We like to think the MyAlliance for Brain Health newsletter and the brain booster enhance, not torture, your day!

Roses are famously fragrant. Tune in to the Weekly Webinar on Thursday, April 25 at 2:00 pm Central time to learn about the relationship between smell and brain health.

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Week of April 15

Last week's brain booster - which we happily heard was a real stumper! - turned out to involve US states. This week, in honor of the MAP study for our Weekly Webinar, we'll continue the theme and color the map. Consider this question: 

What is the fewest number of colors you can use to color the states of the USA if no states of the same color can touch? While you think this one through, have a brain-boosting snack made of the rainbow of fruits and vegetables in Today's Tip.

You can see a blank map of the USA here - to solve this problem you can print it and try your hand at coloring. For extra brain boosting, add the names of the states!

Answer:

4 colors.

In fact 4 colors will suffice for any map, real or fabricated. It took more than 100 years for mathematicians to prove this fact.

Read more about the four-color theorem here!

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Week of April 8

What is a common thread for the words in the group below, apart from the fact that they are all four letters long?

WINE
LAND
ARKS
DEAL
GAIN
MOOR
SCAR
HIND

Hint: Consider your state of MIND!

Answer:

The words are made up entirely of abbreviations for states in the United States of America.

WI NE = Wisconsin, Nebraska

LA ND = Louisiana, North Dakota

AR KS = Arkansas, Kansas

DE AL = Delaware, Alabama

GA IN = Georgia, Indiana

MO OR = Missouri, Oregon

SC AR = South Carolina, Arkansas

HI ND = Hawaii, North Dakota

 

Boosted Brain Booster:

Come up with more words that could be in this group! (here are two to get you started: COMA (Colorado, Massachusetts); MINE (Michigan, Nebraska). Keep going!

What US states could never be in this group of 4 letter words? (Texas – TX – comes to mind. What else?)

What words of more than 4 letters could you make using two-letter state abbreviations? Here’s one: ARCADE (Arkansas, California, Delaware)

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Week of April 1

Happy April 1 – you subscribe to MyAlliance for Brain Health, so you’re no fool! This week’s brain boosters involve words, numbers and of course, some cleverness.

Figure out the word concealed in the following poem. By selecting the right word or letter you will come up with an appropriate word for each clue.

1. Find all ten words described below. Hint: Adding one doesn’t necessarily mean adding a number!

The first word you'll need
is a tool used to snare.
Reverse and add one:
a dwelling filled with fresh air.

Append the letter H
to find a metric sort of part.
Now change N to E to get
a smile, at its heart.

Tack on an I N G
to make a baby's cross to bear.
Remove the center two
and find a golfer's action there.

Add an S and drop the Es:
A painful bite you'll see.
Add one to the end: you will make
penny-pinching and miserly.

Put first 2 and last 2 out the door,
What's left is really cool.
Only keep the first half of that
And now you find the fool.

  

2. When called to investigate, the police found that a man had died in his apartment. When they looked up where he worked, they discovered that he earned $3000 for every month he worked with 30 or fewer days and $3500 for every month he worked with 31 days. Today is April 1; how much will he earn by the end of December?

Answers:

1. NET (a tool used to snare)
   TENT (a dwelling filled with fresh air)
   TENTH (a metric sort of part)
   TEETH (a smile, at its heart)
   TEETHING (what a baby suffers from -- its cross to bear)
   TEEING (a golfer's action)
   STING (A painful bite)
   STINGY (penny-pinching, miserly)
   IN (really cool -- i.e. the in thing)
   I (I am the fool, after all! Don’t take it personally!)

 

$0. He actually won’t earn anything by the end of December – he died on April 1

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Week of March 25

On our March 21 Weekly Webinar, retired NASA astrophysicist Dr. David Beier boosted our brains with a series of fun, challenging and often humorous brain games! We're including one of Dr. Beier's brain games for this week's brain booster. Dr. Beier has generously agreed to share his whole presentation with MyAlliance subscribers - if you'd like a copy, send email to myalliance@kumc.edu. Dr. Beier's finger puzzle is incredible!

Here's a fun way to exercise different lobes of  your brain. Count the number of times the number 6 appears below. Now count the total number of times a 3 or a 7 appears as you see them. In other words, don’t just count all the 3s and then all the 7s; count both at the same time as you see either one. For example, the number of times a 3 or a 7  appear in this sample - 763537 - is  4 times.

1234467889974674657865876576576
3576573625432657346578436578342
2732188582735827456724687343828
7672878682768723682376783768267
2647648823178346432764876774653
7436574386581483627868653873465

The important thing here is not so much to get the right answer, but to exercise your frontal and parietal lobes by trying!

The frontal lobes help control thinking, planning, organizing, problem-solving, short-term memory and movement. The parietal lobes help identify objects and understand spatial relationships (where one's body is compared with objects around the person).

Answer:

6 appears 33 times, and the total times the numbers 3 and 7 appear is 59 times.

 

If you’d like a copy of Dr. Beier’s Brain Games presentation, send email to myalliance@kumc.edu.

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eek of March 18

Walk this Way!

This week, MyAlliance encourages you to step it up! We're walking the walk with the Brain Booster: 

1. If the world is about 25,000 miles in circumference, now long would it take a person walking the average walking rate (do you know what that it is? Hint: it would take 20 minutes to walk one mile) to walk around the world?

2. True or false: Race walking is one of the newest Olympic sports.

3. Put these countries in order of highest to lowest number of average steps a day for a person and indicate how many steps a day someone living in each place walks:

Australia, Japan, Switzerland, United States

Bonus questions: How long was the longest walk around the world? How long did it take? What was the day job of the walker who accomplished this?

Answer:

1. The average walking rate is 3 miles per hour (1 mile = 20 minutes). Therefore, to calculate walking 25,000 miles:

Divide 25,000 (number of miles) by 3 (miles per hour) to get 8,333.333 hours

Then divide 8,333.333 hours by 24 to get 347 days. Of course, this does assume nonstop walking!

 

2. FALSE – Race walking has been an official Olympic sport for more than 90 years. Watch for competitors race walking anywhere from 1 to 95 miles during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France!

 

3. Australia – 9,695 steps a day

Switzerland – 9,650 steps a day

Japan – 7,168 steps a day

United States of America – 5,117 steps a day

 

Source: factretriever.com

For the answers to the bonus questions, tune in to our Weekly Webinar on Thursday, March 21 (or watch the recording afterward)!

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Week of March 11

March Madness motivates the mind!

For the excitement of March Madness basketball - let's cross our fingers for victory, not defeat for our favorite team - check out Chunking for this week's brain booster. Take 60 seconds to memorize the colors and positions of the basketballs in the accompanying image. After 60 seconds, put the image out of your sight and see if you can duplicate the location of each basketball on a piece of paper - you can draw the basketball in red or blue, or simply write a B for blue and R for red in the spot where it goes. 

How did you do? You'll have your own results to see. For more about chunking and how it boosts the brain, click on the answer link below. If you want more basketball grids (and with Selection Sunday on March 17, lots of us want all the basketball we can get!), send email to myalliance@kumc.edu and we'll dribble you some more!

Answer:

Compare the original image from the MyAlliance newsletter with your 60-seconds-later memory of where the basketballs were.

Chunking is an exercise designed to target executive functioning, specifically planning and inhibition. Think about how you ended up at your final mental plan of locating and identifying where the correct basketballs were.

Chunking refers to memorizing chunks or groups of information rather than remembering individual groups of information. How did you use chunking in this Brain Booster? How could you use chunking in other aspects of your daily life? One way: taking inventory of needed groceries and household goods – chunking could help you remember what you have to buy and what you already have (so, of course, could making a shopping list!).

If you’d like more chunking basketball images to boost your brain during this bouncing, quickly passing month, email myalliance@kumc.edu! Swish – nothing but net!

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Week of March 4

This March fourth, take the only date that is also a command - March forth! - and give your brain some forward (fourward?) momentum with this Brain Booster: 

The four sentences in Group A share a special feature. If you correctly identify that common feature, you will find that one of the sentences in Group B also has that same feature. What is the feature? What sentence in Group B can be added to Group A?

Group A:
1. A four watt bulb lacks the necessary brightness.
2.  The ogre enjoyed eating people.
3. The warming rays of the sun also burn.
4. Wings and halos are for angels.

Group B:
1. Always look before you leap.
2 .Cats and dogs are bitter enemies.
3. Girls just want to have fun.
4. Upon seeing the wise bird, we yell owl!
5. My elephant has fleas.
6. The tiger lives in the jungle.

Answer:

Each of the sentences in Group A contain a color formed by the letters of two consecutive words (bulB LACKs, oGRE ENjoyed, warminG RAYs, fOR ANGEls – BLACK, GREEN, GRAY, ORANGE). The fourth sentence in Group B has that characteristic (YELL OW).

Enjoy this Brain Bow of colors!

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Week of February 26

A just-once-every-four-years event happens this Thursday: Leap Day! Of course we here at MyAlliance love to leap all year long, and we encourage you to take part in our upcoming LEAP! programming: the Mediterranean diet and Brain Health Boot Camp courses in March and April.

 

To keep your brain leaping, see if you can solve this combination (lock) conundrum, which includes the numbers 2 and 9!

 

Your Leap Day is lucky - you’ve been awarded a lockbox with a prize inside. Determine the combination to open it up.

 

Figuring out what’s special about these numbers will lead you to the combination.

24 24 22 9 9 9 9 22 24 22 9 9.

Hint: just like Leap Day, these numbers have a Roman connection.

 

Answer:

Convert these numbers to some of the 26 letters of the English alphabet and you’ll see they correspond to Roman numerals:

24 = X

22 = V

9 = I

 

Therefore: 24 24 22 9 9 9 9 22 24 22 9 9 = X X V I I I I V X V I I

Spaced so that they are equivalent to Roman numerals, you’ll have XXVIII, IV and XVII

XXVIII = 28

IV = 4

XVII = 17

 

The combination for the locked box is 28  - 4 - 17. Your prize: a lifetime subscription to MyAlliance – priceless!

 

The Roman connection? One story says Roman emperor Julius Caesar created the Year of Confusion when he decided that the year 46 B.C. was going to be 445 days long instead of 365 days long. He then made a 365.25-day year—a tiny bit longer than the 365.2422 solar year—that added a leap day every fourth year.

Source: National Geographic Kids

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Week of February 19

Double Duty!

This exercise will help build your mental endurance and concentration. Pick any small number (let’s say 3) and start doubling it in your mind.

3, 6, 12. . .
How far can you get without using a calculator? Pen and paper – or even fingers and toes! – are ok to use.

How many doublings does it take to get to 5 digits? 6? 7?

 

Answers:

3; 6; 12; 24; 48; 96;192; 384; 768; 1536; 3,072; 6,144; 12,288; 24,576; 49,152; 98,304; 196,608; 393,216; 786,432; 1,572,864, 3,145,728

Most people have a hard time once they get past 10 doublings. Practice until you can get up to 20 (the 20th doubling of 3 is 3,145,728).

5 digits = 12 doublings (12,288)

6 digits = 16 doublings (196,608)

7 digits = 20 doublings (3,145,728)

What other interesting patterns can you find? How does doubling look with other start numbers?

To infinity and beyond!

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Week of February 12: 

Happy Valentine's Day (Wednesday, February 14)! On this special day, we give extra tender loving care to our sweethearts. Give them and your brain lots of love by doing this Brain Booster.

As we go about our daily lives, we are constantly making decisions based on guesses and estimates. This exercise will help you improve your ability to make educated guesses about distance.

When you are estimating each answer, try to pay attention to how you are solving the problem. Are you guessing the whole number or are you trying to calculate it based on smaller guesses? Avoid using a calculator or pen and paper until after you have made your estimate. 

1. Does that Valentine card you selected promise that you love your love to the moon and back? Do you know exactly how far that is in miles?
2. Do you pledge to keep going and going like the Energizer bunny when you care for your loved one? How many millimeters long is an AA battery?
3. Writing a love letter to your darling? What's the thickness of a standard #2 pencil in inches?
4. You'd say your dear heart makes you feel rich, right? How many $100 bills are in a stack six feet tall? How about a stack of $1 bills six feet tall?

Hint: the answers range from smaller than 1 to more than six digits!

Answers:

1. The moon is 238, 856 miles away, so a trip there and back would be 466,712 miles
2. An AA battery is 50.4 millimeters (1.98 inches) long.
3. A standard #1 pencil is 0.29 inches thick.
4. A new $100 US bill is 0.0043 inches thick. 6 feet is the equivalent of 72 inches (6x12). 72 divided by 0.0043 = 16,744.186. So a 6-foot high stack of $100 bills would include 16,744 bills, with a tiny bit of space left over. That's $1,674,400. This is assuming the bills are brand new because as they get worn through use, they tend to fluff out, making them slightly thicker. Presumably a 6-foot high stack of $1 bills would be about the same height if the bills are approximately the same thickness. Their value, however, would be $16,744 (100 times less!)

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Week of February 5

Swift has been a popular name around these parts lately, so for this week's Brain Booster, let's do some Tom Swifty puns. A Tom Swifty is a play on words, also known as a pun. 

Tom's sentence is quoted, and the description of the way he is said to speak is a pun. Both meanings of the pun could be true. For example: "I'm working as fast as I can, but the boat is still taking on water," said Tom balefully. Balefully refers to his tone of speaking, and also to his action (bailing).

Choose one of the listed words below to fill each blank in the following sentences:

1. "The bank must not want my money," said Tom ___________.

2. "Camping is fun," said Tom __________.

3. "The inmate escaped jail down a bed-sheet rope," said Tom ___________.

4. "I put out the blazing jack-o-lantern," said Tom __________.

5. "I'm definitely taller since I started taking this strange potion," said Tom __________.

6. "The surgeon removed my left ventricle," said Tom __________.

Your word choices are:
delightedly
unaccountably
gruesomely
intently
condescendingly
half-heartedly

Answers:

1. unaccountably (un-account)
   2. intently (in-tent)
   3. condescendingly (con-descending)
   4. delightedly (de-lighted)
   5. gruesomely (grew-some)
   6. half-heartedly (half-hearted)

 

For more brain boosting, think of your own Tom Swifty sentences, said MyAlliance – they can be tailored swiftly to your liking!

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Week of January 29

Sitting ducks: there are two ducks in front of a duck, two ducks behind a duck and a duck in the middle. How many ducks are there?

Hint: consider that there could be more than one correct answer to this one. Having one’s ducks in a row is a good idea!

 

Answer:

There are three ducks  (imagine these are ducks: * * *) – exactly two ducks are in front of the last duck; the first duck has exactly two ducks behind it; one duck is between the other two.

Boost to the Booster: Some quacky thoughts: this one actually could have more than one answer!

The answer of three is correct, and so is five (* * * * * - there are [at least] two ducks in front of the last duck, and the first duck has [at least] two ducks behind it and there is one duck in the middle. You could expand this to 7 ducks or 9 or really any odd number greater than 1. It also sort of works with an even number greater than two,  (****) but the duck in the middle fouls it up since there’s not a true middle duck with the same number of ducks in front of it and behind it.  

Hey, if you solved this one, you took to it like a duck to water. If not, no worries, let it roll off like water off a duck’s back. Either way, you’re a lucky duck. All puns intended!

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Week of January 22, 2024

In each row, change the first letter of the two words to a different letter (the same letter for both) to form two new words. Write the new letter in the blank. What word is formed vertically by the new letters?

Hint: The new words don’t necessarily rhyme with the original ones.

E N D E R  _  A N I O N

D E B U T  _  P A T I O

N A V E L  _  E L A N D

A E R I E  _   S L O P E

 

Answer:

URGE

(new words: under, union; rebut, ratio; gavel, gland; eerie, elope)

 

Source: 365 Brain Puzzlers (an Official Mensa® Calendar) by Fraser Simpson

Good job satisfying the urge to solve this Mensa® level brain booster! For more, see if you can think of more word pairs and letter changes.

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Week of January 15, 2024

Guess that Number

Using the clues below, figure out what the correct number is.

1. 100 is larger than the number.
2. The number is larger than 30.
3. The number is a multiple of 6.
4. The sum of the number’s digits is 9.
5. The digit in the tens place is larger than the digit in the ones place. (example: in the number 913, the 9 is in the hundreds place, 1 is in the tens place and 3 is in the ones place)
6. The difference between number’s digits is 1.

 

Answer:

The number is 54.

-Clues 1 and 2: The number is less than 100 and larger than 30, so we know it is a number between 31 and 99

-Clue 3: The number is a multiple of 6 (the possibilities are 36, 42, 48, 54, 60, 66, 72, 78, 84, 90 and 96)

-Clue 4: The sum of the digits is 9. Now the possibilities are 36, 54, 72 and 90

-Clue 5: The digit in the tens place is larger than the digit in the ones place. Now the possibilities are 54, 72 and 90.

-Clue 6: The difference between the number’s digits is 1, so the only correct answer is 54 (5-4=1)

 

Bonus things to consider for brain boosting:

Do you need all six of these clues to figure out the answer?

Do you have to use the clues in the order they are given to arrive at the correct answer?

If you didn’t, would you arrive at the answer faster or slower?

Can you think of another number and another set of clues to arrive at that number?

 

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Week of January 8, 2024

In this new year, one word below has got to go!

Which word below is the odd one out and why?

showed
history
sidewalk
antelope
building
numbest

Answer:

 

sidewalk

Within all of the other words, there are two words which overlap with each other such that the last letter of the first word is also the first letter of the second word:

shoWed includes shoW and Wed
hiStory includes hiS and Story
antElope includes antE and Elope
builDing includes builD and Ding
numBest includes numB and Best

 

Speaking of words that must go, have you seen Lake Superior State University’s 2024 list of banished words? Check it out here and see if you agree, or if there are any you would add. In defense of one word on the list, rizz – it’s also Oxford Dictionary’s 2023 word of the year.

 

Answer:

Sidewalk doesn’t fit the pattern!                                                 

 

Bonus Brain Booster: challenge yourself to think of more words that do fit the pattern. How many can you compile (that’s one!)?